A Different Kind of Christmas
by Wiccamage
Summary: Ch.8- Rogue hates Christmas. The malls, the shopping, the screaming kids. What's an untouchable mutant to do? Even worse, everyone's leaving to see family. Will Rogue have a bah humbug holiday, or will a certain Secret Santa bring back her holiday cheer? 5,617 Views, 42Followers, 22cFavorites! 60 Reviews!
1. Chapter 1 - Christmas Woes

_Rogue gasped for breath, her lungs and legs and blood all burning from the sheer effort to keep moving. _

_Screaming would do nothing except incense the proverbial bloodhounds that were already fast on her trail. _

'_How the hell did this happen?__' Rogue cried in her head as she looked back over her shoulder to gauge her chances. _

_Not good. Not good at all. They were getting closer… and angrier._

_Closing her eyes as she swallowed another gulp of cold, brittle winter air, the mutant Goth steeled herself to move. Move faster, run harder, be stronger… just keep going. _

_She scrunched her eyes for a mere second and she screamed in her head. It was long and loud and with as much concentration as she could muster given her current predicament. _

_She was, after all, running for her very life. _

_A quick glance down at the freely bleeding stab wound in her side was evidence enough. _

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Weeks Earlier…

"Ah hate Christmas." Rogue thought to herself as she wandered through the Bayville Mall in search of gifts for her housemates.

She glanced around once again and cringed at the overly decked halls brimming with garland, lights, holly and mistletoe at every railing, doorway, and overhang imaginable. Scarcely a square foot of ceiling was without a hideous hanging decoration of some variety – mostly reindeer, Santas and creepy little elves.

Christmas trees were visible in every corner and, to some surprise, there was a tiny little alcove near the restrooms that sported a "Holidays 'round the world" display. Some yahoo somewhere had played the "pity my religion" card and now every public place was required to observe the customs of every religion, culture, and race.

Rogue rolled her eyes and muttered, "Ya know, if everyone would stop worrying so much about their petty little differences, we wouldn't HAVE any dang oppression, racism, or discrimination."

It never ceased to amaze her how everyone preached peace and love and equality during the holidays, but when it came right down to it, most forgot it the second a hot new toy hit the market.

Rogue's train of thought lapsed, however, when she heard a shrill scream coming from down the hall.

Immediately assuming the worst, Rogue thundered toward the disturbance as her thick combat boots slapped against the tile floor.

As she came upon the disturbance though, she slowly jogged to a stop as she discovered the screams were coming from a blond-haired, red faced woman yelling at the top of her lungs.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY WII U'S LEFT?!" The woman let out another feral cry followed by more insults and explicative's and Rogue was immediately reminded of Logan.

"Looky here," she thought as she stared at the woman, "case in point."

Rogue rolled her eyes for at least the fifth time that day and continued her trek through the mall.

"Mutie Freak!" Rogue whirled toward the anonymous shout, but the voice was lost in the crowd as people turned to point and stare at her.

Ducking her head and sighing, Rogue lengthened her stride and practically dove into the nearest store. When she dared to look up, though, the Goth immediately wished she would have stayed outside with the bigots.

"Why me?" She grumbled aloud as she glared at the Abercrombie and Fitch sign above the cash register.

She turned on her heel to make a quick exit, but stopped dead when she found Duncan Matthews and his band of anti-mutant thugs standing in the doorway.

Whirling around yet again, she ducked behind the nearest clothes rack in an attempt to conceal herself. "This just ain't mah day." She muttered quietly.

"I know I saw that little mutie run in here!" Duncan's voice cut through the barrier of clothes, "Split up. We've still got to thank her for graduation." Rogue could practically see the sinister grin on Duncan's face and knew exactly what would happen if she was discovered.

After Magneto had shown up during Scott and Jean's graduation ceremony last year, Rogue had been hassled constantly about ruining the event – something she, quite frankly, could hardly remember.

So as she hid behind the atrociously preppy sweaters and polo shirts, Rogue was faced with the ultimate choice. "Do I: a) hide inside the pits of inner hell to avoid Duncan and his buddies or b) stand my ground, start a fight, cause hundreds of dollars of damage and get us all permanently banned from the mall.

Her head was screaming for option B – every second in this store was making her skin crawl. But, when she thought of all the Professor's efforts to create a positive image for mutants and how livid Kitty would be...

"God D-!" Rogue nearly shouted as she disregarded her basic instincts to flee the ungodly store.

Just as she let her explicative fly, Rogue was tapped on the shoulder and nearly fell through the clothes rack/hiding place.

"Whoops! Sorry about that miss. I didn't mean to … scare … you." As Rogue whirled around to face her attacker, the store clerk – a young blonde girl who couldn't possibly be driving yet, but could very well be Kitty's doppelganger – trailed off slightly as she took in Rogue's Gothic clothes and makeup.

"Are you doing some Christmas shopping miss?" The young clerk smiled, but Rogue could tell she was trying a bit too hard.

"Uh, yah, yah ah am." Rogue stumbled, trying to locate Duncan and his friends without being noticed.

"Great!" The clerk practically bounced, "What are you looking for? I can show you around!"

"No!" Rogue yelped and ducked as one of the former football players passed the rack next to her.

The clerk was staring at Rogue and looking back towards her manager, as if silently pleading for help.

After Duncan's crony had passed, Rogue grabbed the nearest sweater off the shelf and held it in front of her. The clerk continued to stare.

"This!" Rogue offered, receiving no response from the now frightened girl. "Ah mean, ah want to try this on."

The young clerk's confused, anxious stare quickly disappeared and was replaced by a beaming, relieved grin.

"OH! Why didn't you like, say so silly!" Doppelganger might not have been a strong enough comparison…

"Uh, well, ah, um." Rogue stuttered.

The girl covered her hands with her mouth and leaned in to Rogue, causing the Goth to immediately draw back in alarm.

The clerk whispered, "Oh, I get it, you're embarrassed. You must secretly WANT to dress normal and not be an outsider and look like … that. But, you don't want people to get too close to you either, so you feel like you have to dress like … that … to keep everyone away!"

Dumbstruck, Rogue couldn't master words, and in her head, "What the _HELL_?" was the only thing she could muster.

The young clerk, Mandy, Rogue read, instantly bounced back to the preppy valley girl persona.

"Awesome! I can like, totally help you out!" Suddenly Rogue was no longer afraid of running into Duncan and, as she located him at the front of the store, she briefly contemplated calling out to the mutant-hating gang for help.

As she recalled their run in with Spike and the new plasma guns though, she thought better of it and decided to take her chances with Mandy instead.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay. I sort of apologize for the first page or so of guised ranting last chapter, but Goddess can people get any worse during the holidays??? I mean seriously!!

Oh, and thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I'm glad people are enjoying the story – especially since I spend the majority of my lunch break writing it. Not to make you feel guilty or anything, but I know it's time well spent when I get reviews.

This chapter deals with a much larger dose of fun-filled Rogue torture. PS – can anyone visualize the outfit?

Whew!

Happy Solstice everyone, I hope you had a good one (whatever your holiday might be).

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"_Ah've gotta be completely crazy,"_ Rogue thought to herself for the sixteenth time in the last five minutes.

After Mandy, the uppity sales girl, had whisked Rogue away to the women's fitting rooms, she insisted that Rogue actually try onthe hunter green sweater. Worse still, Mandy wanted Rogue to MODEL the blasted thing too!

Not wanting to make a scene and attract Duncan's attention, Rogue had conceded. After all, she was better off hiding in the fitting room than a clothes rack. And Duncan would NEVER think to look for her here. Hot Topic, yes. Abercrombie & Fitch, definitely not.

Hell, she could probably make Logan doubt his sense of smell by hiding here.

"Oh my gosh! I like, totally found the CUTEST outfit to go with that sweater!" Mandy was back from her 30 second journey to find Rogue more clothes to try.

Rogue's eyes widened. That gal had to be related to Quicksilver somehow. There was no way a normal human could move so quickly.

"Here miss, put these on! You'll look SO totally awesome!" A bundle of clothes was pitched over door and Rogue caught them with an "Umph."

Unwrapping the nearly ten pound cotton/polyester package, Rogue glared through the door at Mandy. Included was a mini-length denim jacket with long sleeves, a brown leather fashion belt, a pair of faded hipster jeans and a pair of brown suede knee-high, high heeled boots.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Rogue muttered under her breath. "Ah gotta be crazy."

Mandy was instantly at the door, her ear pressed up against the wooden slats. "What was that miss?"

Rogue raised an eyebrow and glared through the door again. "Ah said you're crazy. These pants'll never fit me. They're way too small."

"Oh just trust me, I have an eye for these things." With that, Mandy bounded away from the door as another customer emerged from a dressing room down the hall.

"Oh my gosh! That looks so totally cute!" Rogue heard the girl exclaim as she assaulted her next victim.

"Thank Gawd," Rogue said aloud, rushing to put the clothes on so she could scope the store for Duncan and his buddies before the oh-so-preppy valley girl came back. Rogue definitely had to give Kitty more credit, her roommate had nothing on this gal.

Without bothering to check herself in the mirror, Rogue zipped up the pants, which amazingly **did** fit (girl must be a telepath too), and threw on the boots before peeking around the door. She sure as hell wasn't going to model the outfit for Mandy, but the clothes would make for good cover. After all, Duncan was looking for a Goth, and this outfit would certainly throw him off if he did manage to spot her.

When she didn't hear or see Mandy nearby, Rogue took her chance and followed the labyrinth of closet-sized dressing rooms back to the retail area.

She scanned the store quickly and found no evidence of Duncan or his group of merry mutant haters. Sighing with relief, Rogue made her way to the front of the store to check the main hall. She really didn't want to leave the store just to run into the goons on her way out of the mall.

As she peered through the glass windows in the store, looking this way and that for the band of blockheads, she nearly plowed over the hat display when Mandy, yet again, caught her from behind.

"Ohmygosh!" The preppy pre-teen screeched, "what did I like, tell you?!" As Rogue turned to the girl, she found that this time the store clerk really WAS bouncing. "You are like, SO totally HOT!!!" Mandy was getting at least two feet of air by simply hopping up and down on the balls of her feet.

So, that made three for three. The girl had the same qualities as Quicksilver, Jean AND Toad. Gotta be a mutant. _"Ah wonder if she has any idea?"_ Rogue thought.

Then, as Rogue was struck with another thought, a slow smile crawled it's way to her lips. _"Ah wonder if the Professor would stick this kid in Jean's room?"_

The concept was almost too insidious to consider. After all, Rogue didn't necessarily get along with Jean, but the concept of ANYONE being forced to share a room with a girl as bubbly, excitable and downright terrifying as Mandy was just too cruel.

Logan wasn't scared of much, but two minutes alone with this girl would even send him screaming from a fight.

Rogue was about to offer a retort to Mandy's "hot" comment, when another voice from behind caused her to actually knock over the hat display this time.

"Hey! You!" It was Duncan all right. No one else had such an extensive mastery of the English language.

Rogue immediately dropped to the floor while keeping her back to Duncan. He was alone so she considered kicking backwards and instantly dropping him, but as Mandy bent down, almost too casual, and began picking up the hats Rogue was inexplicably compelled to do the same.

She had to think of Kitty after all.

She pretended to busy herself with cleaning up the mess while Mandy stood, armload of hats included, and addressed Duncan.

"How can I help you sir?!" The young store clerk asked, bright and bubbly as ever as she began putting the hats back in place.

"Are you shopping for your girlfriend?" She began, "I know the perfect gift!"

"Uh, a-actually I'm looking for someone," Duncan quickly re-found his voice and it was as mean and spiteful as ever.

Rogue cringed.

"You seen a girl around here?" He started, his grammatical proficiency again surpassing his reputation.

"Well," Mandy giggled.

Another cringe.

"I SEE lots of girls here. Are you having trouble?"

Rogue almost turned to stare. Almost. Was Mandy actually making FUN of Duncan Matthews? It couldn't be. No way. She was probably just flirting. That's right, flirting.

Flustered, Duncan went on, "I mean, you know, some girl. She's real gothic and crap. Total loser. Filthy mutant too!" Duncan was starting to sound exasperated.

Rogue could just feel his eyes scathing her back. She knew he was doing all he could to get a rise out of her. Baiting the hook to see if she'd bite.

Oh, she'd bite all right. She'd bite hard.

Rogue started to stand up when Mandy rocketed to the ground to squat in front of her. Without making eye contact, she reached for a black mesh, wide-brimmed hat, possibly the most hideous thing Rogue had ever seen, and plopped it right on Rogue's head, covering the tell-tale white bangs.

"There!" the girl said, beaming. "That's just perfect!"

Then, even more surprisingly, she took Rogue's denim covered elbow and stood up.

And spun Rogue around…

In a circle…

Right in front of Duncan.

When Rogue, wide-eyed and horror-stricken, faced Mandy again the girl simply smiled at her, then at Duncan.

"Isn't she HOT?!?" the clerk exclaimed.

"_What the HELL?!"_ Rogue thought for the second time that day. She couldn't tell if the girl's antics were perfectly plotted or just nuts. What in the Sam-hill was she playing at anyway?

"Well?" Mandy demanded of Duncan, refusing to accept his silence. "Isn't she?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess." The confusion in Duncan's voice was apparent.

"Hey," he said, touching Rogue's covered shoulder and causing her to flinch. "YOU seen some mutant Goth freak lately?"

Still facing Mandy, Rogue sighed. There was no way this was going to work. He HAD to know what was up.

She might as well just fess up now and just kick his butt.

Kitty would hate her, the Professor would be thoroughly disappointed and no one at the Institute would talk to her again, but at least she'd have some danged dignity left.

Rogue began to turn to face Duncan and her hand came up to remove the gigantic, appalling Satin Sinomay hat (Rogue could read the tag hanging in her eyes).

Before she could complete the action, however, she found herself facing Duncan with her arms pinned at her sides. She started.

Mandy was holding her hostage? Against Duncan?

Mandy shook her a little. "Oh she's just shy! We haven't seen any FILTHY mutants in here have we?" Rogue kept her head down and slowly shook it from side to side. No WAY this was going to work. Right??

He couldn't POSSIBLY be that stupid…

"Oh. Well, okay. Uh, you see her, just uh, yell or something, 'kay?" Rogue could just make out his face through the thin material of the hat and he was sporting a completely dumbfounded look. Rogue almost wanted to laugh. Almost.

That is until his buddies came forward and Rogue immediately tensed. She was dead. She just knew she was dead.

"Hey!" one of them yelled.

"Yeah, hey!" A second chimed in and Rogue rolled her eyes.

"_What is it with these Neanderthals?"_ Was "hey" some kind of secret code used by dumb-asses everywhere?

"That her?" The first one said as the group, Rogue counted at least five new sets of feet, flanked Duncan.

"Is who her?" Mandy asked, her voice dripping with innocence and honey. Normally it would make Rogue want to vomit, but she was far too nervous about the current odds.

He pointed at Rogue. "Her. Is that the filthy mutie?" Rogue's stomach dropped. Yep. She was dead for sure.

"Where?!!?" Mandy practically yelled, garnering the attention of a few other shoppers.

Rogue knew if these guys didn't kill her, she would ultimately die of embarrassment instead.

"Well, her…" he said, dropping his voice, "Ain't that the dirty mutant?"

"Excuse me?" Mandy scoffed and placed her free hand on her hip while acting offended. "How dare you call my friend that!?"

"Yeah, God Griff. You jerk!" Duncan chastised, punching his friend in the shoulder. "Can't you see this ain't her? This girl's totally hot!"

"_Oh. Mah. Gawd."_ Rogue thought to herself, her jaw dropping. No way this is happening.

"_Okay Rogue, tahme t' wake up now. This horrid little nightmare has t' end. Wakey, wakey." _ Rogue screwed her eyes shut and willed herself into her bed at the institute.

When she dared to peel one eye open though, she was still in the mall, at Abercrombie and freakin' Fitch, surrounded by Duncan and his goons and getting redder by the second.

Griff rubbed his arm gingerly. "Ow, man. Geez. Sorry."

"Hey," Duncan retorted, "don't apologize to me, apologize to the hottie."

"_Hottie???"_ Rogue screamed in her head. "_Oh barf. Ah oughta knock you silly, you slimy, no good…_"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Um, sorry." Griff interrupted Rogue's silent tirade.

Rogue bit her tongue. She wanted to laugh, sob, scream, run, fight, dance and die simultaneously. Overall, she was ready to pass out from the flurry of emotions buzzing inside her, so she was extremely surprised when she just shrugged in response.

"Now look what ya've done ya big buffoon, you offended her." Duncan was again rallying the gentleman's cry and making an attempt to defend the "hot girl's" honor.

Rogue just wanted to hit him.

"Geez. I'm really sorry about my friend's behavior. He's a complete jerk. It's obvious you're not who we thought," he apologized with a sickeningly flirtatious smile as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair.

She REALLY wanted to hit him.

"So, uh, what's your name anyhow? I don't think I've seen you in here before." This time he bent over a little and ran his hand down her covered arm.

Oh, she was definitely going to hit him.

Before she could make a move, she was suddenly jerked away from Duncan by none other than Mandy.

"Oh yeah, as if! First you call her a dirty mutant and then you want her name?" the store clerk berated him.

"Get a clue you dirt bag."

And with that, Mandy grabbed Rogue by the elbow yet again and dragged the undercover mutant down the aisles to the dressing rooms, leaving Duncan, his gang, and Rogue herself completely stunned.

X

So what do you think of Rogue's unlikely hero? Was it good, bad, funny, disturbing??

Let me know what you think. As I said in the first chapter, nothing is set in stone so any suggestions might help the creativity bug keep on moving.

And many thanks to Be Kat, SouthernLoner, Yezabel, MidniteAngelGoth, Rogue14, Conquistador Imp, and iloveromys for the great reviews. Especially to Be Kat though for sending ME into "hysterical laughter" fits.

Until next time.

Love and light,

Wiccamage


	3. Chapter 3

_Woohoo! 16 reviews at last count! You guys/girls all rock! I love reviews!!! Sorry, I'm a bit of a review whore right now as you can tell. _

_Many thanks to SouthernLoner, Rogue 14, MidniteAngelGoth, Freak87, Terminatrix, Emerald Twin Blade, DemonicGambit, RomyGirl123, and Conquistador Imp for the "like, totally awesome" reviews. _

_And DemonicGambit – I finally figured out what LMFAO means. I'm glad you liked it so much._

_It seems the consensus is "Disturbingly Funny/Hilarious," for these first two chapters. But, I'm sad to say that the hilarity will probably be more infrequent now. _

_I hope you all still stay around though because there will be some fun parts throughout. At least, I hope so. I'm just kind of typing and it's spewing out of my fingers now. I have no control over my subconscious…_

_Thanks again and please, please, please keep reviewing. _

_Wiccamage_

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When Rogue returned home an hour later, she was STILL dazed and confused about what had occurred that day.

1-She had gone shopping of her own free will (but not really, because she had to get gifts for everyone)

2-She actually went INSIDE Abercrombie and Fitch, a.k.a. the third dimension of hell…

3-And stayed for nearly 30 minutes…

4-AND modeled the clothes…

5-She was hunted by Duncan and his goons (which really wasn't unusual) and was "saved" from them by the preppy, bouncy, little valley girl store clerk who turned out to be much more than Rogue had thought

5-She bought jewelry from said third dimension of hell

But, in Rogue's defense, she had only purchased the silver and black weaved necklace/bracelet set out of gratitude for Mandy's "rescue;" however twisted and horrifying it had been and was going to give it to Kitty for Christmas/Hanukah anyhow.

So as Rogue ascended the stairs in the mansion's foyer and headed to her room, she hardly noticed as Scott furiously pounced upon her.

"Rogue! What the heck?! You STOLE my CAR?!" He sounded pretty pissed.

Rogue turned to look at him, her brows furrowed in confusion as she tried again to make sense of her bizarre day.

He was red, REALLY red.

"Hmm…? Oh… Sorry... Here." She dropped his keys into his hand, "Sorry." Rogue noticed that even her speech was languid and disoriented.

It was all far too much for her to process. Abercrombie and Fitch? Really?

She HAD to be crazy.

Scott stopped ranting and his expression instantly changed from furious to concerned.

"Rogue? Are you all right?" His face darted back and forth as he tried to make eye contact and assess her at the same time. Rogue noted that he sort of looked like a chicken by the way his head was bouncing all over.

He touched her covered arm cautiously and turned her toward him.

"Rogue are you all right? Did something happen? Are you hurt?"

He was talking slowly and deliberately either because he thought she was in shock, or because he didn't want to frighten her. She wasn't sure which was more accurate.

She slowly brought her eyes to his, the same look of confusion and consternation still plastered on her face, and shook her head yes slowly.

"Ah'm…fine. Weird day…" And, with that, she continued walking up the stairs completely lost in thought.

X

Twenty minutes later, Rogue was lying face down on her bed. She had dropped her bags at the bedroom door, walked over to the foot of the bed, and fell on it. So it was like this, in the same position – boots still dangling over the edge, arms at her sides, face buried in the comforter, coat still on – when the Professor telepathically spoke to her.

"Rogue?"

She screeched and nearly rolled off the side.

"Jesus Professor ya nearly scared me half t' death!" She yelled out loud.

"I apologize Rogue. I would like to see you in my office please." With that, he cut the psychic connection and left Rogue alone in her room.

"O-Kay." She muttered out loud, rolling her eyes.

She really had to stop doing that, it was becoming a habit.

"_Lord, what 'm ah in trouble for this time?"_ She contemplated.

Taking a deep breath, she cranked her neck from side to side and smiled at the loud pop it produced. Kitty would have hated it.

X

By the time Rogue reached the Professor's office, the shock and wonder of that afternoon's events had mostly worn off. At least she was able to speak and think coherently again. She had even managed to grumble slightly when Jamie bumped her in the hall.

She had almost laughed at the young boy's (and his clones') expression when they looked up and saw who he had run into. Poor kid had looked utterly terrified.

The thought made her stop. Was she really that scary? She didn't mean to be. She always assumed that the kids at the mansion avoided her because of what had happened with Apocalypse.

After all, she had nearly gotten them all killed. Twice.

Strike that. Three times.

First when her powers went nuts, second when Mesmero forced her to awaken Apocalpyse, and third when they had to STOP Apocalypse because Rogue had released him in the first place.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Not a good track record.

No wonder everyone was frightened of her.

"Rogue?" She heard Xavier call out from the other side of the door. At least he hadn't used his telepathy that time.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Yeah?" She asked warily before closing the door again. "Ah mean, ya wanted t' see me?"

"Yes Rogue. Please, have a seat."

Oh gawd she was in for it now.

"Look Professor, ah'm sorry about takin' Scott's car, but ah needed to go Christmas shopping and Jean had already left for the day, and a motorcycle doesn't carry bags well, and …"

"Rogue!" Xavier stopped her, smiling. "You are not in any trouble."

"Ah, ah'm not?" She asked, bewildered.

"No. However, I would recommend that next time you ASK first before 'borrowing' Scott's car." He had an amused look in his eye, as if he was trying very hard not to laugh at her, yet still wanted to appear stern.

He started again, "Scott was concerned about you. He said you were acting…" he struggled for the right word.

"Crazy?" Rogue offered honestly.

"Odd." He finished.

"Why do you say 'crazy' Rogue? Have your powers been bothering you again?" He asked.

"No. Mah powers are fine. Well, at least as fine as they can be. Ah just had a really … odd … day."

Then, surprisingly, Rogue launched into a detailed description of exactly how odd her day had been.

X

Rogue took a deep breath. Despite her utter mortification, if she had dared to look up, she would have laughed at the Professor's almost constipated look.

He was trying VERY hard not to laugh himself.

"So he…?" Xavier questioned again.

"Hit on me." Rogue was beet red and looked as if she wanted to cry.

"And you…?"

"Nothin'. Ah shoulda slugged that no good, two-faced, son of a..."

"Rogue!" The Professor warned, folding his hands and resting his mouth on his fists. It was the only way he could effectively hide his growing grin.

"So how did you manage to get out without being seen?" Xavier was rather curious about her Houdini-like escape.

"Ah think that's the weirdest part. That girl, Mandy, helped me." Rogue explained with a raised eyebrow.

"After ah changed, she offered to take me out through the store's back entrance. It leads right out t' the parking lot. Ah was so grateful ah even offered to buy a necklace or somethin'. Ah think it made her day. She even hugged me. It was kinda disturbin'."

Rogue screwed up her nose at the memory, but one side of her mouth tilted into a little half smile.

Mandy had actually hugged her. Even though she knew Rogue was a mutant, Mandy had still hugged her.

Of course, had she known the severity of Rogue's powers, the girl never would have touched her in the first place, but still…

She'd hugged her.

Rogue couldn't remember the last time ANYONE had hugged her. Not even Irene had hugged her.

Inexplicably (at least to Rogue) she discovered a growing lump in her throat and quickly lowered her head from Xavier's gaze. She had to stop her stupid chin from quivering before he noticed anything was amiss.

She took another deep breath and focused on the more infuriating details that she hadn't cared to disclose.

Like how Duncan had run his hand down her arm.

Or how the boys had called her a "hottie."

Or how Mandy's parting words were, "Make sure you work on that little "hiding" problem we talked about."

It was only after Rogue had reached the car that it finally dawned on her. The hiding thing. What made her think it was a problem anyhow? Mandy didn't know the crap Rogue had to deal with every day. Didn't know how dangerous it would be if she let other people get too close.

If she just reached out.

Opened up.

Let go.

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COMPLETE – for now…

_Yes, I changed this somewhat, but not really. I'm now considering it "complete," just because I didn't get many reviews and I'd like to have at least ONE story done. I will probably write a sequel ficlet to go with it later, probably towards NEXT Christmas. Maybe I'll have enough written by that point that I can actually have TWO finished stories before the new year!_

_Well, happy fiction hunting everyone. Until later (again)._

_Love and light, _

_Wiccamage_


	4. Chapter 4 - Secret Admirer

So I'm pregnant with our second child and was put on bed rest with four whole months left to go… Ergo, I've had LOTS of time to write for this story! It definitely will be finished by the time I have my little guy in March/April (Just in case you're wondering about restarting this story just to be unfulfilled again…)

I know the first two/three chapters were pretty humorous, but it's going to get more cutesy/mushy from here with a tense, angsty climax, followed by a happy ending, then a rather unhappy part that will eventually lead to a sequel. Because "I just love love stories, don't you!" (name that movie quote).

Thanks for reading!

Love and light,

Wiccamage

Oh, and as it has been YEARS since I've really written anything, please bare with my while I rediscover my "writing voice" and give any constructive feedback you feel will help with the overall quality of the story.

X

Three Days Later

Rogue lay on her bed with one leg crossed over her raised knee, reading her latest vampire novel and listening to her CD Player. She tapped her foot to the beat of "Tourniquet" by Evanescence as she leaned heavily against her piled up pillows and sighed.

The blare of her music was rudely interrupted when the song started to cut out – courtesy of the pounding feet parading down the hall to the main foyer.

More feet raced down the halls, causing the bed and walls to vibrate slightly – just enough to throw her CD player out of sync again and it flashed "Disc Error" briefly before her music killed completely.

Disgusted at her nearly ancient music device, Rogue tore the headphones from her ears and angrily pounded on the electronic equipment.

"Anti-skip mah butt," she growled as she reached for a different CD. She was in the mood for something a little more hard-core and angry right now anyway.

After all, it was mail time. And it was the holidays.

Right about this time of the year, the other students would start getting little letters, Christmas cards and goodies from home in the mail. They would ohh and ahh over the varies cookies and candies and cute family pictures of their aunts and uncles and cousins, and Rogue…

Well, she'd just rather avoid all that disgusting crap.

It wasn't like she'd be getting anything anyhow. She hadn't spoken to Irene since… well, since a while. Rogue had asked that all mail from her one time caregiver be sent back and she had even sent a short note to Destiny asking both her and Mystique to kindly "stay the he** out of my life."

The phone calls had started soon after the letter was sent, but a sharp warning from both Rogue and Logan seemed to have done away with those too. That, or the students had finally realized that no one else really called for Rogue.

Ever.

Rogue sighed again as she hit the button to pop open her player and frowned when nothing happened.

She hit it again. Harder.

Still nothing.

"Son of a …." Rogue cried and sat up suddenly, her book falling to the floor beside her bed, as she examined the fickle machine.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed and threw it on the bed beside her angrily.

Heaving another great sigh, Rogue rubbed her hands over her face and cracked her neck, heading downstairs to find a small screwdriver so she could try to fix her CD player.

And, if that didn't work she'd get a hammer. Hopefully someone would buy her an I-pod or something for Christmas.

Not LIKELY, but one could hope.

Sardonically, Rogue grimaced to herself and wished she still believed in Santa Claus. After all, she had been a VERY good girl this year – what with saving the world and everything. Last year had been a different story… but this year. Rogue couldn't help the small self-satisfied smile that toyed slightly at her lips.

She had gotten a lot of praise and attention for her not so small role in stopping Apocalypse and she had to admit that part of her had enjoyed it. Of course, she had CAUSED the crazed mutant to escape in the first place, so any congratulations were really more of a reminder of her initial role. Sadly, as soon as the victory cries had died down, everyone just went back to being afraid of her.

In fact, they were probably more afraid of her now than ever before. It was like they were realizing for the first time that she was powerful and really, truly dangerous at times.

It was as if the reality had finally clicked – 'if Rogue is powerful enough to resurrect Apocalypse and bring him down too, then what can she do to me?'

Unfortunately, no one else really understood that she would never hurt any of them unless she had no other choice.

Heck, she couldn't even kill a spider! But, if anyone in the mansion found out she made it a habit to carefully scoop up all of the eight-legged creatures she found in the house and put them safely outside, well, they'd laugh at her and think she was joking.

Rogue pounded down the stairs in her thick combat boots and winced as she heard shrieking coming from the foyer.

"Oh my gosh, how cute are those!"

Sighing, she decided to try and sneak around the group for fear of being called to "join the fun," to which she would promptly decline and would yet again look like a jerk to everyone.

As Rogue reached the door to the dining room, however, Kitty's head suddenly appeared through Jubilee's torso.

"Hey Rogue, wait! You've got a package!" She held a large, brown box about 2 feet long and 1 foot wide toward Rogue.

Jubilee's cry of protest was suddenly forgotten as she and most of the other students turned toward Kitty in surprise. "Rogue got a package?!" the perky Asian girl exclaimed as Kitty finally phased completely through her.

"Wow, really?" Tabitha chimed in, peeking over Jubilee's shoulder.

"It's like, got her name on it," Kitty retorted as she walked the box over to Rogue - the other girls trailing behind her.

"Who's it from?" Amara asked from the back of the posse.

Kitty stopped and turned the box over, examining the labels. "It doesn't say, but it's heavy," she announced after a thorough inspection.

Now even the boys were interested and began to gravitate toward the group of girls.

Jean and Scott, who had been quietly discussing their own letters, suddenly pushed past the crowd of students. "Let me see that," Scott commanded, and Kitty quickly handed the mysterious package over to the team's leader.

Meanwhile, Rogue still stood in the doorway, motionless. She didn't get packages, or letters or gifts - not from Irene, not from anyone.

Suddenly everyone's attention was drawn to the front doors as Logan stormed inside.

"Where's this package?" he growled.

The students instantly parted and Scott surrendered the large brown box without protest. Jean spoke up as Logan silently took it and began sniffing vigorously.

"I thought you would be the best one to check it out. After all, you'll probably be able to tell what it is or who it's from."

Logan paused. "Smart thinkin' Jeannie, but I think it's okay. I don't recognize the scent, but there is one there. Doesn't smell dangerous either, just smells like -"

"HEY!" Kitty shouted as she quickly phased the box out of Logan's hands. "This is ROGUE'S package. No fair giving away what's inside!"

With that, she bounded over to Rogue and thrust the box into her friend's arms. "So open it already; I can't wait to see what it is!"

"Yeah, not to mention who it's from," Bobby chimed in. "Who in the world would want to send something to Rogue?"

A few students muttered in agreement, but Rogue just glared at the blonde boy. "And just what's THAT supposed to mean?!" she demanded ferociously.

Tabitha pushed Bobby aside, "Oh who cares!? Just open the blasted thing! The suspense is killing me!"

"Ya'll want me to open it... here?" Rogue's expression was a mixture of horror and disgust as she gazed out at Xavier's entire student body.

"Well like, yeah!" Kitty yipped, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Probably better that way, darlin'" Logan added quickly. "That way we'll know right away if it's a trick or not."

Rogue eyed the package warily. "Ah thought you said it didn't smell dangerous."

"Don't. But that doesn't mean it ain't," Logan deadpanned as he folded his arms and took a stance close to Rogue and the package, ready to rip it from her hands if need be.

Rogue rolled her eyes again. "Fantastic. You uh, you wanna get the tape for me at least?"

The other students, including all the girls, took a giant step back as Rogue held the box out to Logan. He popped one claw and deftly sliced the tape across the top before retracting the blade and folding his arms again.

"Well," Rogue said as she pulled on the flap with one hand, "here goes nothin."

As she slowly pried the top open, the other students began inching forward again, straining their necks to get a look at what was hidden inside.

After what seemed like an eternity to Kitty and the girls, Rogue reached in and pulled out a smaller gift box. It was a deep, hunter green clothing box tied with a bright red ribbon and adorned with a large white bow in the middle.

Rogue stared at it - a look of pure confusion written across her face. "It looks like a Christmas present. Are you sure this was addressed to me, Kit?"

The preppy brunette held up her hands. "Hey I read it like, six times. It's definitely for you."

"Well," Jubilee interrupted, "go on and open it!"

With a sigh, Rogue gently plucked off the bow and untied the ribbon. Holding her breath, she pulled the lid of the box off quickly, expecting to see something horrible or hideous inside. After all the trouble at the high school lately, she wouldn't be surprised to find a dead cat or something...

Instead, she found a small card nestled atop some red tissue paper. Wordlessly, she handed the card over to Kitty to read aloud. After all, privacy was a moot point now. Eventually the whole school would know what it said - might as well get it over with while Logan was there to keep the whispers to a minimum.

Kitty opened and read the card as Rogue unfolded the tissue paper to reveal the contents within. The brunette cleared her throat for dramatic effect and began reading loudly for all to hear.

"My dearest Rogue…" The girls squeaked. "You looked stunning in this the other day (minus that hat of course) and I thought you should have it. I hope you like it as much as I did." Kitty stopped reading and turned the card over quickly.

"Who's it from? Who's it from!?" Jubilee screeched, plucking the card from Kitty's grasp.

"It – it's not signed," Kitty replied, stunned. The girls stared at each other for a moment in confusion.

"Do you know what this means?" Tabitha asked solemnly.

Silence resonated through the foyer.

"Rogue's got a secret admirer!" The blonde screamed, jumping up and down. The other girls (aside from Jean) quickly joined in the screeching while the boys (aside from Scott) bean whispering furiously to one another.

Meanwhile, Rogue still stared silently at the contents of the gift box.

"So," Jean asked when the shrieking had died down to a dull roar. "What is it?"

Tabitha, too eager to wait for an answer, snatched the box from Rogue's hands and pulled out the contents.

"Hey!" Rogue shouted, snapping out of her stunned silence. "Give that back!"

Tabitha ignored her., dancing away from Rogue's hands. "It's a denim half-jacket," she explained as she tossed it to Jubilee, who inspected it quickly before handing down the line of girls. "And a cute green blouse," (this she also handed over before Rogue could snatch it away) "a belt, a pair of boot-cut blue jeans and some super cute brown leather boots – all from Abercrombie and Fitch!"

Rogue made a desperate grab for the jeans and boots, too, but wasn't nearly quick enough as Tabitha tossed them over to Amara.

The girls squealed over each item before Tabitha ended up with the lot once again.

By this time Rogue was seething mad. With her arms folded tightly across her chest, one hip jutting out defiantly and a dark scowl across her face, everyone could see she was about to go postal.

But that certainly didn't stop Tabitha.

"Oh my gosh Rogue, I can't believe you actually tried these on. They're so cute! I didn't think you had ANY fashion sense." She held the top up to Rogue's torso, "And this color is just fabulous on you!"

With a menacing growl, Rogue quickly ripped all the items from Tabitha's grasp and stalked over to Logan, dragging him by the arm as she stormed from the room.

"Ah need t' talk t' you," she demanded, heading for the kitchen with Logan in tow. As she pushed open the door, she shouted over her shoulder. "And if any of ya'll even THINK about eavesdroppin' ah'll put you in a coma!"

With that, she dragged a semi-deaf Logan through the door and into the (relative) safety of the kitchen.

"Sheesh," Tabitha commented as Rogue and Logan left, "does she really think we'd invade her privacy like that?"

…

"What?" she asked as everyone stared at her incredulously.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You REALLY don't know who it's from?" Rogue asked Logan skeptically as he pulled a soda from the refrigerator.

"Nope."

"Ya don't recognize the scent at ALL?" Rogue cocked one eyebrow as she watched Logan lean casually against the counter and shake his head.

"So you mean to tell me you know absolutely nothing about the person who sent this?" She was getting mighty ticked off over his flippant attitude.

"Never said that," Logan replied with a grin. "I just said I didn't recognize the scent."

Rogue glowered at the man for a moment before she slowly removed one glove and took a step toward him.

"Alright then, 'bub', you got about 10 seconds t' tell me everything ya do know before ah take your powers and find out for mahself!" By this time Rogue was standing right in front of Logan with one long, bare finger pointed directly in his face.

In response, he simply lifted an eyebrow and set his can down on the counter. Slowly, he began to smile.

"That's the most spunk I've seen outta you in months. Bravo, kid. Yer obviously bluffin', but you got guts all the same." Logan folded his arms across his chest as he grinned down at the enraged girl.

Rogue growled as she removed her other glove. "Maybe ah'm bluffin' and maybe ah ain't. Now spill."

Logan regarded her pensively for a moment before picking up his beverage and taking a swig.

"First of all, it's from a girl."

To his credit, Logan managed not to chuckle at Rogue's bug-eyed, open mouth reaction. "She ain't a mutant, far as I can tell, but she is young – maybe 16 or so. Works in retail – around a lot of clothes."

He took another sniff of the denim jacket. "Smells like the Bayville Mall." He gave Rogue a moment to mull over the information. "You know anybody that fits the bill?"

Rogue's eyes darkened as she pulled her gloves back on. "Ah think ah've got an idea."

Ripping the clothing from Logan's hand and stuffing it back into the green gift box, Rogue tucked the offending articles under her arm as she headed for the garage.

"Stripes," Logan called after her, "What're ya doin'? The X-Van's still bein' repaired and you ain't 'borrowing' Scott's car again."

"Guess ah'll just have t' take yours then," Rogue tossed over her shoulder as she reached for Logan's keys, which were hanging conveniently next to the garage door.

Before she could even pull them from the hook, however, Logan's hand was gripping her wrist tightly.

"Excuse me?" he asked with a low growl.

"Less of course you wanna drive me," Rogue added with a knowing smirk.

Logan shifted his weight as he released Rogue's hand, the keys tinkling lightly as he did. With a sigh he jerked his head toward the lobby. "Go grab our coats," he said at last.

"And yer buyin' my gas," he called as she dropped the box on the kitchen island and dashed towards the closet. "And lunch!" he added, trying to sound annoyed.

Truthfully, he wouldn't have let her go alone anyhow. Xavier had already filled him in on Rogue's encounter with Duncan and his gang of dunderheads, and he wasn't going to risk them having another shot at her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rogue stormed into Abercrombie and Fitch, her eyes dark as she glanced around. She quickly spotted her quarry and stalked closer, the bright green gift box still tucked under arm.

Slamming the box down on the sales counter, she glared at the young blonde behind the register.

The clerk turned toward Rogue with a bright, surprised smile. "Oh goody!" Mandy exclaimed. "I'm so glad you got it!"

The girl was not in the least put off by Rogue's angry scowl.

"Yeah," Rogue replied darkly, "ah got it all right."

Mandy jumped up and down in excitement, her blonde ponytail and beaded green necklace bouncing exuberantly. "Wasn't it fabulous?!"

"Uh… sure. Fabulous." Rogue's scowl faltered under the girl's happy countenance.

"Look," Rogue began before her anger fizzled out. "Ah appreciate the gesture and all, but ah can't accept this; it wouldn't be right."

Mandy looked puzzled, "Why on Earth not? I thought it was SOO romantic!" The blonde sighed dreamily as she gazed out toward the doors.

Rogue straightened, uneasy. "Ah'm uh, ah'm sure ya did, but look – ah just… don't swing that way."

Mandy's head cocked back to look at Rogue quizzically, her brows crunched in confusion. "You mean you don't like boys?"

Rogue shook her head, perplexed. "What? No! Ah mean yes. Ah mean – what?" She pinched the bridge of her nose – there was a major headache coming on. "You mean it's not from you?"

The blonde giggled again. "Of course not, silly!" She leaned in conspiratorially, her eyes dancing suspiciously around the room. "It's from a boy. A HOT boy…"

Rogue's shoulders tensed. "What? Who?"

Mandy was leaning with her elbows against the counter and her chin resting on her fists. A dreamy, romantic look was plastered across her face as she sighed happily. "He didn't say. Just said he wanted to send you that." She pointed to the box on the counter. "He said he saw you wearing it the other day and thought you looked very beautiful. He had me box it all up and write the note and everything; said he didn't want you to have any clues about his identity."

Rogue considered Mandy's words. "Can you at least tell me what he looked like?"

The Southerner's voice carried a mixture of annoyance and intrigue. She'd been at the Institute for the last four years and none of the boys had so much as blinked an eye at her. In fact, the only boy who'd EVER shown an interest in her was Cody Robbins from back in Mississippi and he wasn't likely to come callin' anytime soon.

Mandy stood up, shook her head vigorously and headed back to the cash register as another customer approached. With a characteristically bright smile, Mandy spoke kindly to the woman, who quickly paid for her merchandise and left.

"Have a nice day!" Mandy called after the woman as she exited the store. Turning back to Rogue, she said, "I'm not going to tell you what he looked like - that would be a clue. No clues. Except this: he's not done yet - he said a 'beautiful girl' like you deserves LOTS of beautiful gifts."

"Lots?" Rouge asked, horrified.

"LOTS." Mandy repeated with a knowing smirk.

Rogue gaped.

"Well," Mandy said, looking around the store at the increasing number of customers, "it's been awesome chatting with you. We'll have to hang out again soon, but I've got to get back to work." She walked out from behind the counter and headed towards a small pre-teen girl who looked absolutely baffled by the jeans selection.

"Let me know how the next one goes - I'm sure it'll be a total gem!"

XXXXXXXXX

Just FYI, I do have two or three other chapters typed and waiting for publishing. I just haven't decided when/how often I'm going to be updating yet.


	5. Chapter 5 - Downhill

The next afternoon found Rogue sitting alone in the dining room doing her homework. All she wanted was a nice, quiet place to spread out her mass of assignments and study in peace. Granted, there were quieter places to study right after school, but she needed some extra space and the library was always too crowded.

Of course, the dining room had nothing to do with its proximity to the foyer and the incoming mail. Luckily she had her ancient CD Player to block out the noise of frequent kitchen visitors looking for a snack.

"Hey Rogue," Roberto called as he entered the dining room. "How - how's it going?"

He waited a moment for an answer before noticing her headphones.

"Oh," he muttered quietly as he headed for the kitchen and the fridge, "Never mind."

Rogue sighed as the door to the kitchen swung shut behind him. It wasn't that she didn't like Roberto; she just ... didn't want to talk to him.

Putting down her pencil, Rogue pressed her palms into her eyes. What was wrong with her anyhow? Why couldn't she just get over herself and be NORMAL?

"Because you're a freak," a voice hissed from inside her mind. It was full of anger and hatred - unrecognizable and barely even human.

"You shouldn't be around them. You are dangerous, a killer, you will kill them all."

With a minute whimper, Rogue's hands slid up to her ears, pressing the buds of her music player deeper to block out the voice.

"They fear you," it came again, even louder. "They know what you are, what you will become."

Rogue tried to block it, to put up her walls, but the voice echoed in her mind like a steel prison.

"You are not a person - not a girl, not a woman to be loved. You are a freak among freaks - a weapon to be used and discarded. No one could love a monster like you. You are a killer, a demon in human form. Your friends will scream your name as you murder them..."

"Rogue!"

With a yelp, Rogue shot up from the table, flinging her chair and CD player in the process. The heavy wooden chair thumped against the wall behind her, crushing her music device as it crashed to the floor.

Kitty stopped abruptly in the doorway, a small white box in her hands. "Wow, Rogue, are you like, okay?"

Breathing heavily Rogue glanced around, taking note of the damage she had caused. The wall was dented from the weight of her chair and the music player appeared to be in several pieces.

How was she going to cover for this? "Yah," she stammered, "Ah just, ah um..."

Kitty giggled nervously. "That's like, the first time I've ever scared you!"

Rogue stared quietly at Kitty and the flock of girls behind her. She managed a small, reassuring smile. "Yah," she fibbed, "you uh, you got me good, Kit."

She snatched up her CD player from the floor, trying to keep her shaking hands busy. With a nervous laugh she let the shattered device dangle from her clenched fist.

"You got me REAL good..."

Kitty's expression changed from nervous humor to abject horror. "Oh my gosh! Rogue I am SO sorry! Really I am. I totally didn't mean to scare you like that, I was just really excited to give you your mail and I..."

"What?" Rogue asked, pausing as she started to gather her school work from the table. "What mail?"

Kitty cautiously held out the small box she'd been holding. It was a simple white post office shipping box about five inches wide and nine inches long.

"There's no name or address or anything," Kitty added.

Rogue gave her friend a scathing look as she dumped the last of her books in her backpack.

"Not on the outside anyhow," Kitty protested, raising her free hand above her head in innocence. "I didn't peek, I swear."

Rogue heaved her school bag over her shoulder and carefully reached for the box, her heart speeding up slightly. He'd sent her another gift - just as Mandy promised. Biting her lip, she tried not to let her emotions show, tried not to hope that...

"If he knew you - truly knew you - he would fear you, just like all the others," that same voice from before stilled her hand before she could take the box from her friend.

"She isn't your friend," it continued, "you have no friends. They are toying with you - making up a fantasy to humiliate you." The hissing continued as Rogue closed her eyes and took a step back from Kitty. "See how they watch you, waiting to mock you with their little game? They know, they ALL know - no one could love a monster like you."

Inhaling sharply, Rogue slammed her mental blocks into place, securing her mind from... whoever it was. She opened her eyes just in time to see Kitty reaching for her arm.

"Don't touch me!" the Southerner shouted, jumping clear of Kitty's hand. Her back slammed painfully into the dining room table and she forced herself not to cry out.

Kitty, along with the other girls hiding in the doorway, jumped back as well.

"Rogue," Kitty whispered, "are you...?"

"Ah'm fine!" Rogue growled angrily at the petite brunette. Kitty could never be so cruel could she?

Boldly, Tabitha pushed through the crowd of girls and stood next to Kitty. Her hands were on her hips, a look of concern and defiance written on her face.

"No need to go all psycho on your friends Rogue - we just wanted to give you your stupid mail." The blonde took the box from Kitty and tossed it to Rogue.

Psycho? Rogue thought. That was good coming from Boom Boom. She was right though; everyone thought that she, Rogue, WAS psycho - driven crazy by the voices in her head. Even Kitty, her "friend" thought so. The look on her face right now proved it.

With dark eyes and a pained scowl, Rogue shoved the two girls aside and headed for her room. The rest of the girls in the doorway leapt back as she headed their way.

"Ah have no friends," she bit out as she passed, leaving them speechless in her wake. The last thing she heard as she stalked up the stairs in the foyer was a choked sob from Kitty, one of the few people she actually did consider a friend.

XXX

Rogue had scarcely made it to the safety of her room before the guilt and agony began gnawing at her. With a sigh, she dropped her backpack at her feet and locked the door - generally a useless gesture in a house full of mutants - before wandering over to the mirror on her dresser.

Dropping the package, she rested her gloved hands on the polished wood. The German cuckoo clock -a gift from Kurt - stood silent from its place on the edge of the dresser. It was a nice gift, expensive to be sure, but she really didn't care much for the constant ticking. It was noisy enough in her head already.

As she thought about her brother's gift, however, her attention drifted to the new package. Trying to ignore the white box, Rogue instead focused on her reflection. Somewhere, locked away in her brain was the cause of her stabbing guilt - that voice that had caused her to lash out at Kitty in the first place.

Rogue locked gazes with her reflection and willed the voice to come again. She wanted to stamp it out and be rid of it without involving anyone else. The other students already thought she was a loose cannon and the Professor was busy enough with all the anti-mutant craziness.

Instead of the voice, however, she was met only with herself. Her skin was pale, as it always was, but it currently had a sallow and sickly tone as well. Dull grey eyes glared back at her from dark, sunken sockets and her lips and mouth were pinched and pale behind her purple lipstick.

Rogue knew she certainly FELT terrible, but she wondered when she had started looking like it too. She COULD try to take a sick day, but she was already behind on all her schoolwork and the Professor would want to do another psych evaluation.

No, she would just tough it out and get some extra sleep instead.

Biting her lip, Rogue picked up the small white box as her attention drifted. She turned to lean against the dresser so she could examine the gift more closely, but stopped suddenly to look around the room.

Her eyes darted around, seeking out an intruder or spy of some sort. She could swear she was being watched...

As she glanced around, however, she found that everything was exactly as it should be. Her bed was still made from this morning - just the way she liked it with the hunter green comforter pulled down on one side. The alarm clock glared 4:30 in bright red from its perch on the nightstand, and her telescoping reading lamp was in the same odd angle as last night.

The Anne Rice book with her Amy Brown bookmark lay between the clock and the lamp just as they should be. Her Alanis Morisette posters (gifts from 'the girls') were still in the same spots on opposite walls next to her balcony. The black curtains covering the french doors were mostly shut so only a small beam of light shown into the room.

Across from the foot of her bed, the white sliding closet doors were open on the left side as they always were. At least, as they were since two years ago when Bobby had jumped out and scared her half to death...

Rogue smiled a little, remembering how he had walked around for week with two black eyes and a broken nose.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax. She was just being paranoid. No one was watching her. No one cared about her dumb little box except those dumb, gossipy girls, and they were probably all downstairs right now laughing at how dumb and gullible she was.

They had probably planned this whole elaborate rouse just to trick her. Heck, Bobby had probably even volunteered to help!

"Arrgh!" Rogue screamed angrily and threw the box at the balcony doors. "Ah hate them! Ah hate them all!" she yelled at the slightly bent box lying on the floor. With clenched fists, she stood breathing heavily as she let her anger boil over.

She wanted to make them pay. She wanted them to hurt for tricking her - for making her believe that someone actually... She wanted to take their memories, and their powers, and their very lives and...

"Oh mah god!" Rogue gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

"You see?" The voice returned as Rogue trembled, tears pooling in her eyes. "You DO want to hurt them," it told her as she backed into the corner by the dresser.

"No," Rogue protested weakly, her hands now clasped over her ears.

"Yes," it hissed, creeping deeper into the far reaches of her mind. "You want to kill them."

"NO!" She yelled this time, shaking her head violently in her hands. "Ah don't want to hurt anyone. Leave me alone!"

"You said it yourself. You want them to pay for it. You want to take their souls..." The voice - that deep, sinister voice - reverberated in Rogue's skull and threatened to drive her mad.

"Who are you?" Rogue yelled aloud in her empty room. "What do you want with me?!" With her hands still over her ears, she staggered toward the door, desperate now for the help she had shunned just moments ago.

Stumbling as her vision began to darken, the voice laughed deep within her skull, making the room spin violently.

Rogue made one last, desperate grab for the door and fell short, slumping against the dresser instead. As she dropped against the smooth surface she felt her German Clock start to fall to the floor as well, but she never heard it hit the floor as she began to lose consciousness.

The last thing she did hear was someone softly calling her name and turning the lock from inside her room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


	6. Chapter 6 - Tough Times

KABOOOM!

As the professor turned toward the elevators, an explosion sounded from somewhere upstairs. The girls jumped and Xavier immediately placed his hands to his temples, trying to find the sources.

"In her room - Rogue!" he yelled both aloud and mentally, sending out a distress call to everyone in the building. He forced his wheelchair to the elevators as fast as possible as Kitty and Tabitha dashed up the stairs.

As they reached the top landing, they could see only the remnants of a little smoke as it settled in the hallway. Scott, Jean and Kurt were also already on the scene and Scott cautiously pushed open the slightly open door. He wasn't sure if Rogue would even be "Rogue," or if she'd just attack on sight...

"Rogue," he called, "it's Scott. Are you alright?"

Kurt suddenly pushed past the team leader and rushed into his sister's room, scanning the room. "Rogue? Where..."

"Geez, Rogue!" Scott yelled as he spotted their teammate lying face down on the floor next to her dresser. He and Kurt Knelt down beside her and Jean was instantly at their side, putting a hand on the girl's back.

"She's breathing, but she's unconscious. I can't get into her mind at all." The redhead's brow furrowed in concern as Kitty and Tabitha stood at the doorway.

Kitty turned an angry glance to the blonde, "Just 'being Rogue' huh?"

Tabitha grimaced, ashamed now at her earlier outburst. There had been something wrong with the Southerner all along and she'd been too quick to judge to even notice.

The girls turned to see Logan running toward them and quickly jumped out of the way.

"What happened?!" he growled as he joined the others beside Rogue's prone form. He, too, placed a hand on her back.

"We don't know," Jean explained as she stood up to move out of the way. "We all heard an explosion and the Professor told us it was Rogue. No one saw what happened."

"Was anyone with her recently?" he asked gruffly, gently rolling the unconscious girl into his arms.

Kitty stuck her head into the room. "Tabitha and I were just downstairs with her about 5 minutes ago." The brunette's eyes were still rimmed red from earlier and now new tears threatened to spill over.

Logan grunted. "You two come with me," he instructed as he hoisted Rogue up off the floor and carried her from the room. "Xavier's waiting in the med bay."

By this time the rest of the student body had gathered in the hallway to check out the scene. As Wolverine stormed by with the unconscious Rogue, everyone stepped back, exchanging worried, sometimes fearful glances with each other.

Following closely behind Wolverine, Kurt looked around at the other students and tried not to snarl at the distrust written on their faces. He knew they had every right to be wary of Rogue - even on a good day she was a force to be reckoned with, but when her powers were out of control... Well, EVERYONE had a right to be afraid.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two days later Kitty and Amara shuffled down the halls after school. Kathrine Pryde normally took great care in her makeup and overall appearance, however, the valley girl looked particularly unkempt at the moment. Her ponytail sagged against her neck as errant hairs poked out from the elastic band. Her normally crisp outfit was wrinkled and looked as if it were hastily thrown together. And, perhaps even more telling was her distinct lack of makeup. Instead of being lined with a neutral tone of shadow, her eyes were puffy and rimmed with red.

Anyone could see the poor girl was miserable.

"I just," Kitty sniffled as Amara put a hand on her shoulder, "I just can't believe she's not awake yet, you know?"

"Kitty," Amara soothed, "You know there's nothing you could have done. The Professor already explained that."

"Yeah I know, but I, like, should have known something was wrong, you know? I should have let the Professor know she was acting funny. I should have..."

Amara sighed, frustrated, and stopped short in the hallway, grabbing Kitty's arm.

"And SHE should have told someone there was a problem. You ASKED if she was okay and she blew you off, that's on her, not you. You beat yourself up all weekend about this, and you need to stop it."

Kitty started to protest, but Amara held up her hand, cutting her off. "It's not your responsibility to know when she's having problems with her powers. It's hers."

Amara sighed and smiled sympathetically, ushering them along once more. "After all, I can't really expect you guys to run to the Professor for me every time I start spontaneously combusting, can I? Rogue's a big girl; she's got to learn how to ask for help when she needs it."

Kitty sniffled again and pushed a piece of hair away from her face. "I guess you're right," she admitted quietly.

"Now come on," the younger girl added cheerfully, "let's go get her homework - that's one thing she doesn't need to ASK for help on. Everyone knows it's not going to collect itself!"

As the girls finally walked into the empty English classroom, however, they were quite surprised to find that the opposite was true. Apparently, someone had already called the school asking for Rogue's homework for the entire week. And, in addition, they had dropped off all her other homework from the previous week-the exact homework Rogue had been working on the day of the ... incident. Coincidently, it was also the same homework that had been stored in her book bag - a book bag that was now missing.

The girls practically ran to the office to see who had picked up and dropped off the assignments, but all the secretary could tell them was that it was a young man - someone she'd assumed to be from the Xavier house.

"ARGH!" Kitty yelled as the two girls left the office and headed outside. "I am getting FED UP with this secret admirer thing! Enough is enough already!"

Amara snickered. "Are you mad because he took the backpack, turned in her homework, collected the new assignments, or because you still don't know who it is?"

"Both!" Kitty stated facetiously, throwing her hands up in the air as she pushed open the heavy exterior doors of the high school. "I mean, the boys at Xavier's can't be THAT sneaky unless somebody else is helping them, and NOBODY there knows how to keep a secret..."

"Well someone sure does, 'cause no one seems to know who it is - not even Tabitha or Jean."

Kitty blew a hair out of her face as the two headed toward Scott's car where he and Jean were waiting for them.

"Pfft, not like Jean would tell us if she did know," the brunette announced loudly as they hopped in the backseat.

"If I did know what?" the redhead asked, turning a quizzical eye to Kitty and Amara.

Amara giggled. "If you did know who Rogue's secret admirer is. Kitty's in a tiff 'cause he already picked up and dropped off Rogue's homework."

"He dropped off her homework from last week?" Scott asked, looking into his rearview mirror as he pulled out of the school parking lot. "The stuff that's in her missing backpack?"

"Yes." Kitty huffed, folding her arms and slumping down in the seat.

"I thought you said it wasn't finished. Isn't that cheating?" Scott furrowed his brow and looked genuinely concerned until Jean raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" he asked defensively as Amara shook her head and Kitty sulked.

"Really Scott," Jean admonished. "Rogue's in a coma and your concerned with someone doing her homework?"

Kitty and Amara instantly turned their attention to the redhead.

"Wh-what!?" Kitty stammered. "What do you mean she's in a coma? The Professor said she was just recuperating..."

Jean grimaced and this time it was Scott's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Yes," the college student tried to backtrack, "she is just recouperating. I just meant she's still unconscious and no one knows exactly when she'll wake up. I didn't mean a REAL coma, just ... like a coma. Besides, I'm sure she'll come around really soon. The Professor said she's getting stronger all the time. She could even wake up today."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Much to the chargrin of her friends, Rogue did not wake up that Monday. Nor did she wake up the entire rest of the week.

Professor Xavier spent hours on end with the unconscious teen, trying desperately to break into her mind and discover the source of her mental relapse.

"I just don't understand it Hank," Xavier confided in his friend and colleague. "I can SENSE a presence in her mind, but I cannot seem to find the source."

The two men were hunched over Dr. McCoy's desk in the medical lab, thumbing through various charts, test results and brain scans.

"Rogue is in there, somewhere, but it's like she's been trapped inside her own mind by someone else." Xavier leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

Beast examined the older man with an amused yet downhearted smile. The Professor's body language was so uncharacteristic of him, but spoke volumes toward his frustration.

"The good news is her physical health charts are coming back completely clean. Sometimes patients who spend long periods of time unconscious begin to deteriorate, but she seems to be stable for now."

Beast's positive outlook was marred, however, by an angst-ridden sigh as he removed his glasses and placed them quietly on the table.

Xavier turned to the blue furred mutant. "And the bad news?"

Beast sighed again. "The bad news is that she won't remain like this for long. We've been keeping up her fluids and nutrients intravenously, but they aren't meant to maintain an unconscious patient for long."

"Hank... please speak plainly," Xavier pleaded with a slight hint of irritation in his voice - just another sign of the wariness the Professor was fighting.

"We're going to have to find other ways to care for her - and soon. She's breathing fine on her own, so we don't need a ventilator, but things like catheters and feeding tubes are going to be necessary if she doesn't wake up soon."

Hank stood up, running a furry hand through the fur on his head as he turned to gaze at Rogue's prone form through the glass window.

"I've been moving and aspirating her every few hours to prevent bedsores, pneumonia or other infections. Not that Logan couldn't take care of that instantly, but it makes me feel useful at least…" The blue doctor glanced down as Xavier joined him. "Things like waste removal and long-term nutrition need to be addressed. The methods I've been using aren't meant for a long-term, vegetative patient."

Xavier took a deep breath, closing his eyes and steepling his hands as he contemplated Hank's words.

"Jean and I will try one more time to reach her - tomorrow. Then I will speak privately with Kurt - he's her closest relative after all. How we proceed from there will ultimately be up to him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX

The following day brought one of the gloomiest Saturdays the X-Men could remember. A foreboding surrounded the mansion even though none of the students had yet been told about Rogue's condition or her grim diagnosis.

Jean and the other adults had gone down to the medbay first thing in the morning at the summons of Professor Xavier. All other visitors to the basement had been restricted and Wolverine had even cancelled a Danger Room session.

It had been hours since their departure, and the team was beginning to worry. It wasn't like the Professor to restrict access to any part of the building and it was DEFINITELY not normal for a training session to be cancelled.

Kurt was called down to the medbay shortly after two o'clock; it was approximately six hours after Jean had gone down, although she still had not returned. Kitty, Bobby, Scott and Kurt had gathered just before Kurt had been pulled away by the Professor, and pretty soon a flood of students had joined them in the library.

By three, all the students were about to break down the doors to the basement.

"Alright," Kitty declared to a room full of students. "I'm phasing down there - I don't care what the punishment is!"

Kitty was met with a chorus of "me too's!" from practically everyone, when the double doors opened to reveal Professor Xavier, Beast, Storm, Wolverine and Jean, with Kurt bringing up the rear.

The crowd instantly quieted and moved aside as the mood in the room fizzled out.

"I..." The Professor began, but stopped momentarily, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting so anxiously, but I was in need of some time with Jean and Kurt, respectively. You see they have been... helping me... with some very tough, very mature problems."

Kitty sank into a nearby chair as she looked at Kurt. She knew by his blank, heartbroken expression that the Professor did not bare good news.

The Professor paused, glancing once to Kitty as her emotions cut through him. "As you all know Rogue had some sort of lapse within her mind and though I've spent innumerable hours trying to reach her, I have been unsuccessful. Jean and I spent most of the morning using Cerebro to break into her mind, but the results were the same."

The library was deathly silent, poised almost for a funeral.

Xavier looked around at the stricken faces of the students and felt his own eyes grow warm. "I am still hopeful that Rogue will awaken on her own, but I fear that it may take much longer for her to do so than I initially thought."

He looked back toward Kurt, who was still standing sullenly in the doorway.

"As her brain activity has not changed at all in the last week, I'm forced to recognize that it may take weeks or even months for Rogue to wake up. I'm going to continue to work with her to shorten that time, but as Beast has reminded me, we need to prepare for the long-term.

"I requested Kurt's presence a short while ago to discuss these preparations and allow him some time to reflect without outside influences. While he has mostly determined a course of action, he would also like to include the rest of you in the decision making-process. Hank would you mind explaining? I ….need a moment."

The Professor propelled himself backward, allowing room for the doctor to step forward. Xavier himself touched a hand to his forehead in order to regain control of his mental blocks. The torrent of emotions swelling within the small room would drive him into the darkness as well if he didn't act quickly to restore his shields.

Beast cleared his throat and tried to find the best way to explain the scenario to the young group. He'd already gotten to practice quite a few times on the other adults, Jean and Kurt, but such a large crowd was slightly more intimidating to him.

"Ahem," he began, "Rogue is currently in what we call a vegetative state. She is not cognizant - aware - of anything going on around her and is completely unresponsive to all types of external stimuli."

Bobby saw the look of confusion on Jaime's face and translated. "It means she doesn't wake up when you poke her and stuff."

Realization and appreciation dawned on the young boy's face before the gravity of the new knowledge sunk in.

"Essentially, yes. Thank you Bobby," Beast commented before continuing. "When a person is unresponsive for long periods of time - when they won't wake up - certain measures must be taken to ensure that every day needs are taken care of.

"In a comatose state, Rogue cannot eat or drink by herself. For the most part, a majority of her muscles will not work on their own. She cannot swallow or do... other things that occur with normal bodily function. She's breathing fine and her heart is strong, but things like nutrition and fluids must be taken care of by machines."

Hank paused again, letting the information sink in. He gauged the reactions of the students, but was mostly met with shock.

"So, IV's and catheters and stuff, aye?" Rahne questioned.

"That's correct, yes," Beast replied, looking relieved that he wouldn't have to explain that aspect any further.

"So uh, what decisions did Kurt have t' make, if you don't mind mah askin'?" Sam raised his hand from the back of the room and stepped forward slightly. "Ah mean, if you're just gonna stick some tubes in her to keep her eatin' and stuff, it don't sound like there's even a decision t' make."

"Yeah," Jubilee piped in, feeling more hopeful. "You usually only ask the next of kin to make decisions when a person could die."

The silent reactions of the adults brought the mood of the room to a new low and many students quickly sat down as the realization struck.

"There is," the Professor spoke quietly as the tears began to flow from nearly every student. "There is the possibility that Rogue... that she might not wake up." He took another deep breath to calm himself. He had to remain confident and upbeat for the sake of his children.

"We must consider that possibility and ultimately decide to continue assisting her body until she does awaken, or stop all interventions and..." there was a pregnant pause as the Professor tried to find the best way to word the other scenario. "And let nature take its course."

He stopped a moment as the students registered his words.

"That is why I had to speak to Kurt first. I believe that if Rogue trusted anyone to make those types of decisions for her, it would be her brother."

"Well it certainly wouldn't be Mystique," Tabitha joked from the corner. The comment, though slightly off-color in such a somber situation, helped lighten the mood enough to garner a few watery chuckles.

Xavier smiled, grateful for the girl's timing. Even Kurt snorted derisively from his stance at the doorway.

"So, uh, why did you want to involve us, Kurt?" Kitty sniffled. "I mean, it sounds like everything is already figured out."

Kurt swallowed hard and tried to keep himself from porting out of the room. Asking for the others' opinions had seemed like a good idea at first, but now he felt stifled and terrified.

Xavier could sense his anxiety and spoke up for him.

"Kurt has... mixed emotions about the different courses of action," the Professor began, but soon Kurt himself stood up from the doorway and entered the room, standing next to Xavier.

"I..." he choked up a bit and Kitty, who sat very near him, reached out to hold his hand. He smiled gratefully at her and gave her hand a little squeeze.

"My religious views and vhat I vant for my sister are very different. On one hand, I was raised to believe zhat only God can choose your fate and zhat a life which was meant to end must not be dragged out.

"But she is meine schwester - my sister - and I... I don't want to give up on her. But, I don't want to see her suffer, eizer. I do not really know what to do and since zhe X-Men are as much Rogue's family as I am, I wanted to know what you all think as well."

Kurt glanced around the room as his friends and teammates each mulled over their own thoughts.

"I, uh, I had a cousin that was on life support for a long time," Berzerker spoke from where he sat on the floor. He was cross-legged and stared intently at his hands as he spoke. "She - she had leukemia and went into a coma. I guess she was still kind of awake, but she couldn't do anything for herself, you know. They gave her a feeding tube through her nose, and she didn't need a ventilator at first, but she just got worse and worse. It was..." he stopped for a moment, his voice cracking. "It was awful watching her suffer like that."

Kurt and a couple others nodded, their eyes filling with tears once again.

"That kinda sufferin' is terrible, Ray, and ah'm real sorry you an' your cousin had t' go through it," Sam Guthrie intervened, "but ah don't think Rogue's gonna have that problem. Sounds like she's fine physically and it's just her head that's havin' trouble."

There were a few quiet murmurs of agreement from the students.

"Ah mean, mah grandma got in a car accident a few years back and they thought she was a goner - bleedin' on the brain or something," Cannonball continued. "Mah folks decided to sign this 'do not resuscitate' card, expectin' her t' keel over with a few days or something. She was such a stubborn old gal though, she kept right on goin' and woke up on her own a couple a days later. Heck, she just went on vacation t' Fiji!"

More kids smiled this time and the sounds of agreement rose.

This time Scott spoke up. "I think that like any of us here, Rogue is a fighter. She never gave up when times got hard and I don't think she'd want to give up now. We may not know what'll happen if or when she does wake up, but we do know that she wouldn't just throw in the towel."

This time a few people even clapped, including Logan.

"Yeah, but she's MISERABLE," Tabitha argued quietly. When she looked around at all the deadly glares and downcast eyes, she threw her hands up in the air. "Hey don't shoot or anything, I'm just saying that she might... I don't know - welcome - a way out."

Even the Professor raised an eyebrow at Tabitha this time.

The girl sighed and tapped her foot. "Fine. When my dad was making me... do stuff for him… I PRAYED for a way out. ANY way out. I was so desperate to get out of that life that I would have taken any possible exit handed to me. I got lucky that Xavier found me first, but I don't know. You see the misery she goes through and I can't help but think, if it were me, what would I want..."

"But that's like, assisted suicide or something," Bobby argued vehemently.

"Better than ACTUAL suicide, don't you think?" Tabitha shot right back. "Rogue may be strong, but she's not made of stone, you know. Life hands you enough hard knocks and pretty soon you don't want to answer the door..."

The arguments went on for what seemed like hours before the group finally came to a consensus that Rogue was one of the strongest members of the team and therefore would not want to just give up, or be given up on.

By five o'clock, the dreary mood had turned to that of brotherhood and support for one another. Xavier and the other adults were amazed by the maturity and insight of the young students and realized that these 'children' were much more grown up than they had thought.

XXXXXXX

Despite the new feelings of optimism that permeated the air, however, there was still the task of actually attaching all those tubes and wires to Rogue. The Professor doubted the good mood would last, especially since the most senior X-Men - including Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Kurt - all wanted to be present for at least SOME of the procedures.

As the group reached the medbay however, everyone (including Logan) nearly fainted at the sight before them.

There, standing in a blue terrycloth robe in Hank's office, obliviously sifting through his mini-fridge was none other than Rogue.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx


	7. Chapter 7 - Obstacles

Thank you to those who are actually taking the time to review. It makes a big difference to my bored-to-tears mind (the one that's stuck here on the couch with preterm labor problems) when I get to read and respond to your reviews.

Also, I have about 7 more ideas for the secret admirer gifts, but if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Special thanks go out to JasmineBella, who's been conversing with me about how even a fictional story can possibly mean so much more than what it was intended for. This update is brought to you early and dedicated entirely to her amazingly insightful and inspiring review.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

XXX

_Despite the new feelings of optimism that permeated the air, however, there was still the task of actually attaching all those tubes and wires to Rogue. The Professor doubted the good mood would last, especially since the most senior X-Men - including Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Kurt - all wanted to be present for at least SOME of the procedures. _

_As the group reached the medbay however, everyone (including Logan) nearly fainted at the sight before them._

XXX

There, standing in a blue terrycloth robe in Hank's office, obliviously sifting through his mini-fridge was none other than Rogue.

Hank and the others did a double take from Rogue's empty hospital bed to the girl and back again before someone finally found their voice.

"ROGUE?!" Kitty practically screamed as realization and relief washed over the group.

The sudden sound startled the Southerner, who bumped her head on a shelf and cursed.

"Seriously, Kitty, what is with you scarin' me half t' death today!?" The girl stood up straight, her hand on the back of her head, and turned toward the group.

"Uh..." she paused when she saw the large group of X-Men staring at her in shock. She self-consciously pulled her robe tighter around herself. "Hi?"

As they all continued to gawk at her wordlessly, she grimaced. "Ah wasn't out for a day, was ah...?" she questioned lightly.

"Oh zhank gott en heimel!" Kurt finally overcame his shock and rushed to his sister's side, throwing his arms around her in a huge, relieved hug.

With her arms trapped under her brother's, Rogue couldn't move without risk of touching him. "Kurt, what in the...?" She looked up at the others for some sort of explanation, but when she saw tears in their eyes, she swallowed nervously. "How uh, how long was ah out, exactly?"

"Over a week, child," Ororo spoke up kindly. "You had us all very worried."

"We were like, practically planning your freakin' funeral you jerk!" Kitty stalked forward and slugged her friend on the shoulder before joining the group hug.

"What?!" Rogue pushed the two other teens off, alarmed. "What d' ya mean 'plannin mah funeral?' Ah was dyin'?"

"No," Beast explained, quickly gathering his medical equipment and ushering Rogue to sit down. "However, you were completely nonresponsive for over a week, and we began to fear that you would not wake up." Beast quickly checked Rogue's eyes with a light and made her track his finger as he spoke.

"We were upstairs just now discussing long term care arrangements, which should hopefully explain the rather unsettling welcome you just received."

Beast began checking the girl's reflexes as Kitty and Kurt each kept a hand on Rogue's shoulders - trying to assure themselves that she was truly made of flesh and blood and sitting, fully conscious, beside them.

"What, uh, what kind of arrangements?" Rogue looked at the Professor and Logan.

"Well," Beast spoke up as made Rogue open her mouth. "Sometimes when a person..."

"Oh fer the love of..." Wolverine interrupted the blue doctor. "We were gonna put tubes in ya t' keep y' alive."

"Oh," Rogue uttered as Hank took the tongue depressor out of her mouth. "Sorry."

"We are just happy to have you back with us, child." Storm spoke again as Beast stepped back. The weather witch also came forward with a relieved embrace, and this time Rogue was able to stand and somewhat return the gesture. After all, giving everyone a little pat on the back was probably the least she could do after she'd put them through such an ordeal.

"Yes," Xavier agreed, "But I wonder how. There was absolutely no change in your brainwaves all day and suddenly you are awake and back among the living, so to speak."

The Professor came forward and motioned for Rogue to sit once more. "Would you mind if I took a look?"

"Mah head's killin' me, but if it'll make ya'll feel better, sure." Rogue grimaced at the idea of introducing more pain to her already pounding head, but the guilt she felt about making everyone worry overshadowed her own concerns.

The Professor placed his hands next to Rogue's head and closed his eyes as she reluctantly closed hers.

After a few seconds of probing, Rogue suddenly whimpered in pain and bit her lip sharply. Her head lolled forward slightly and everyone gasped, afraid she would slip back into a coma again.

"Chuck, that's enough," Logan warned as Rogue's face scrunched up in agony. When she gasped and a strangled cry escaped her lips, Wolverine rushed forward, yanking the Professor away from the girl. "I said, that's ENOUGH!"

Professor Xavier shook his head, momentarily confused before he looked up to see Rogue slumping over in the chair. Logan was quick to catch her, however, and whisked her back to her hospital bed.

"Don't you DARE go back to sleep on me, Stripes." The gruff Canadian ordered as he gently laid her down on the bed. "You ain't puttin' us through that crap again, you hear?"

Rogue's eyes slowly fluttered open again and she mouthed something that only Logan could understand.

He quickly turned to Hank McCoy, "She wants a painkiller and a shot of adrenaline or somthin' t' keep her awake for a bit."

As the doctor stood stammering for a moment, Logan growled, "NOW, Hank!" He was careful not to yell, however, because he didn't want to make her pain worse.

As Kurt and Kitty reached Rogue's bedside with some water and a blanket, Logan stormed back out of the room and marched up to the Professor.

"Just what in the hell did you think you were doin' Chuck!?" he demanded angrily, folding his arms in an attempt to keep himself (and his claws) in check.

The Professor was still rubbing his temples as he stared through the glass at Rogue, confused.

"There was… someone else in her mind. Someone trying to draw me in - like a moth to a flame. It was as if he, or she, were tempting me with promises of discovering his identity." Xavier tried to explain his actions, but the guilt was prominent on his face.

"Thank you for intervening, my friend," the Professor acknowledged, turning his eyes to Logan. "I fear if you had not broken our connection, I could have caused irreparable damage to Rogue's mind. I hate to admit it, but I cannot in good conscience enter her mind again for fear of being drawn in once more."

"But Professor Xavier," Jean spoke up from the back of the room where she was standing with Scott. "If we don't figure out who or what is causing this, how will we make sure she doesn't lapse again?"

"I do not know," Xavier admitted, staring at Rogue once more as the gravity of the situation sunk in.

XXXXX

A few minutes later, the others joined Kitty and Kurt next to Rogue's bedside as Beast finished replacing her IV's and injected some medications into the line.

"Rogue," the Professor apologized as he wheeled next to her, placing a hand on her covered arm. "I sincerely apologize for causing you such pain. It appears that someone has invaded your mind, but whether it comes from inside or outside forces, I cannot be sure. Is there anything you can tell me about the day you lost consciousness?"

Rogue bit her lip and laid back against the pillows, closing her eyes in concentration. "I don't, I don't remember much. Ah know I was sittin' in the dining room doin' homework when Kitty startled me, but that's about it."

"Do you remember getting that package?" Kitty asked quietly as she stood at the foot of her friend's bed.

Rogue regarded her pensively for a moment. Her memories of the day were extremely fuzzy, yet wrought with emotional turmoil.

"Ah remember ya startled me, and somethin' happened between us, but ah..." She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to wrench the memory from her throbbing head.

"It was you and Tabitha and the other gals, but there... there was someone else. Someone talkin' t' me - in... in mah head, ah think?" Rogue's breathing was getting labored as she kept her eyes screwed shut, forcing the images to the forefront of her mind's eye.

"Someone, someone was tellin' me things. Tellin' meh t' - that I would..." She grunted and covered her ears, her breaths coming in quick, short gasps.

"Rogue, that's enough, please," Xavier commanded, pulling her hand from her head and forcing the girl to look at him. "You've been through enough for one day. There's no need to cause any further agony."

The young woman nodded and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. Ororo quickly gathered another blanket and draped it around Rogue's shoulders, for which the girl smiled.

"We will figure this out Rogue, in time," Xavier consoled, placing his hand upon her shoulder. "For now though, you must rest. Try to ..." Xavier smiled slightly. "Try to get some sleep."

Rogue gave a grim snort, but nodded, falling back against the pillows again with a sigh. The Professor patted her arm again then turned to leave, ushering the others along with him.

"Wait!" Rogue called quietly as she sat up again. "I'm famished - I could eat absolutely anything, even Kitty's cooking."

The others chuckled as Kitty pouted dejectedly and Kurt nodded, "I'll be right back!" he answered cheerfully.

Moments later he returned with a steaming hot pepperoni pizza – the Professor wisely decided NOT to ask where it had come from…

Rogue grinned widely as Kurt placed the box on her lap. "Anyone else hungry?" she smiled at her friends and the remaining three students pulled up chairs around Rogue's bedside and dove in.

Surprisingly, no one noticed the fresh bouquet of flowers sitting next to them on the nightstand.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Rogue awoke to the beeping of medical equipment and the presence of another person at her bedside.

She couldn't remember falling asleep last night, only that she'd eaten nearly half of the pizza herself and had been enjoying the conversation immensely.

Rogue turned her gaze toward where she knew her visitor was seated and smiled at Logan as he read a small card in his hand.

"Hi there, stranger," Rogue greeted her friend with a small smile.

Logan grunted and met her eyes. "Bout time, kid. You had us worried."

Rogue frowned. "How long was ah out this time?!"

"Just a little over 24 hours. You weren't unresponsive this time, thank god." Logan assured her as she adjusted the bed to sit upright. "Thought the others were going to have a cow when Hank told 'em you were still sleepin' this afternoon."

The Southerner smiled apologetically before taking note of the card Logan still held in his hand.

"What's that?" she asked casually, trying to change the subject away from her current state.

"Note for you. Came with the flowers." Logan handed over the well-read card with a bemused, yet irritated scowl. "Kitty went nuts when she realized you'd been visited by your 'secret admirer' again. She's already ticked enough about him takin' yer backpack." Logan growled as Rogue gave him a funny look.

"Damn kid searched every corner of this house tryin' t' find that school bag of yours. Swear she cleaned out every dirty magazine in the place. I had t' threaten t' cut off a few fingers if she went through any of my drawers."

Rogue chuckled and finally read the note to herself.

_Dear Rogue, I know it may be a while before you get to enjoy the flowers (if you even LIKE flowers) but hopefully you'll feel better soon. Get well and don't worry about the school stuff - it's taken care of._

Rogue bit her lip as she pondered the note and its sender. Her head wasn't throbbing as much as it had been the other day, but the pain was enough that she didn't want to dwell on her own thoughts for long.

As she placed the card back on the nightstand and gazed at the flowers, however, she suddenly brought her fingers up to her lips. Her brows furrowed in concentration and concern as she turned quickly to her friend.

"Do you know who the flowers are from – honestly, Logan?"

The burly man shook his head no. "Can't say that I do – and it's getting MIGHTY obnoxious. Whoever this secret admirer of yours is, he's been real careful at covering his tracks. Sprays everything down with alcohol and perfume t' cover his scent."

He noticed her pensive expression and raised an eyebrow at her. "Why, Stripes? What aren't ya tellin' me?"

Rogue licked her lips as she gazed at the flowers once more. "Ah just got a flash – a memory – of him puttin' those flowers on the stand there. It's really fuzzy, and ah can't see his face or anything, but then… Ah think - Ah think he kissed meh."

Rogue refused to meet Logan's gaze as the man snarled angrily.

"Logan," she whispered, finally meeting his eyes. "Ah think… ah think that kiss is the reason ah woke up in the first place."

The Canadian narrowed his eyes at the girl. She couldn't be serious.

Rogue cast her eyes down again and fiddled with her hands. "Right before ah woke up, ah remember feeling someone… different… brush against mah mind, just for a minute. I think… I think it jolted me enough, even from so far inside mah mind, that I kinda came back to myself." She shook her head and snorted. "Probably sounds crazy."

Logan's look of suspicion had changed to one of interest. "Nah. I think y' should run that by Charles though. It might help him figure out what's goin' on in yer head. He's been so preoccupied with how you woke up all of a sudden that he can't focus on anything else."

He ran his hand through his unruly black hair and sat back in the seat. "What I don't get Stripes, is why did a … a KISS… from this kid wake you up when I touched you myself and got nothin'."

Rogue looked up at him suddenly, a moment of clarity ringing in her eyes. "Ya did, didn't you? You… you touched mah cheek. Just for a second, right? Ah, ah remember it." Rogue's breathing became more labored and nervous as she bit her lip and screwed her eyes shut against an unseen danger.

"He – the voice – whoever it is... He went nuts when your psyche entered mah mind. It made him crazy. He, he ATTACKED you - the you in mah head, anyhow. It was like he knew one of the X-Men would try to touch me, t' help me. Seemed like it went on f'rever, until…" She paused, trying to wrench the images from her brain without the aid of a telepath.

"Until that kiss…"

As Rogue struggled to recall the details of her internal battles, Logan struggled against the rage building inside. Someone was hurting her – from within her own head – and using their interventions of touch and telepathy against her.

The worst of it? It was becoming very apparent that they couldn't do anything to help her.

"Is," Logan coughed to clear the rawness from his voice, "is he still hurtin' ya? Still talkin' to ya and such?"

Rogue closed her eyes for a moment, but shook her head. "No. Ah mean, ah don't think so. Mah head was hurtin' so bad yesterday that ah could barely remember mah own name, but it's like he's gone now – at least temporarily. Like he exhausted himself fightin' against it all."

Taking a deep breath, Rogue laid back against the pillows more completely as she looked around at the monitoring equipment and IV line dripping fluids into her arm. She gnawed on her lip as she tried to find the words to tell him the truth.

"That day," she began with another deep breath, "when I passed out? I was thinkin' about this secret admirer thin. 'Bout who it could be and … and why now. That's when ah HEARD the voice f'r the first time, but… ah think it's been there f'r a while now."

Rogue couldn't meet Wolverine's gaze for fear of the disappointment and anger she would see on his face. Regardless, she bit her lip and pushed on.

"Ah think… ah think it's been there, influencin' me somehow, f'r a long time actually." She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "Like every time ah start t' feel happy or good about mahself, it reminds me of all the bad stuff; of what might happen. I've always thought it was just me, but right before ah passed out, ah remember…"

The Southerner bit her lip hard, trying not to let it quake under her onslaught of emotions. If she didn't come clean now there could be a real chance that someday – someday soon – that voice in her head would take control without her even knowing it. And then…

God help them all.

With a shaky breath, Rogue finally went on in a whisper.

"Ah remember WANTING t' hurt Kitty and the others. It felt like it was really ME that wanted to suck out their souls, not this… THING in mah head."

They sat in silence for a moment, Rogue too ashamed to meet Logan's eyes and Logan too shocked to respond. Finally, the Canadian placed a heavy, reassuring hand on Rogue's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Listen t' me Rogue, and listen good," With his other gloved hand, he gently pinched Rogue's chin between his fingers, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"You are a GOOD person. I know that you would never, NEVER hurt anyone intentionally." He snorted and smiled, "Well, unless they deserved it."

His attempt at humor made Rogue chuckle lightly. "But revenge, murder – it just ain't in yer blood. That crap with pushin' Mystique's little statue over the cliff was about as close t' true hatred as I've ever seen ya get and it nearly killed you. I saw the guilt and remorse on your face. I could smell it on you every where you went. We both know that you don't ever wanna go back there and, personally, I don't think you could."

Logan's gaze was unwavering as he spoke gently and calmly to his favorite student, trying to reassure her in a way that she could not do for herself.

"This thing, whatever it is, may come back, but so long as you know who you are and where you stand, it ain't gonna get the better of ya again. You are NOT going to hurt your friends, Rogue. No matter who's in control of your head, as long as you're in there you'll find a way t' stop 'em."

With a soft smile, Logan stood and put a hand on Rogue's head, smoothing it back down to her neck before bending to kiss her hair.

"It's gonna be fine, kid. You'll see."

He was pleased to see her smile widely and relax as he left the room. He only wished that he could convince himself (and the others) as easily as her.

XXX

After yet another physical evaluation, Rogue was finally released to go back to her own room again. She had already relayed her conversation with Logan to the Professor, who was just as distressed and reassuring as the other man had been.

Even with the possibility that the voice – whomever it was – was dormant in Rogue's mind, the Professor refused to subject the girl to any more mental probes. It was becoming too dangerous to keep pushing her and he didn't want to cause any permanent brain damage.

Kitty and Kurt had escorted their friend back to her room and Kitty had even offered to sit with her until she fell asleep. Rogue had JUST managed not to roll her eyes again, and instead graciously declined her friend's offer.

Despite all the sleep she'd gotten over the last few days Rogue found herself curled under the covers once more, exhaustion pulling at her eyelids. As she rolled to her side and tucked a hand under her pillow, however, she was jolted awake again when she touched something hard.

Rogue sat up and pulled the object from its hiding place. She was surprised to find the white post office box – her gift – that she had angrily hurled at the wall last week. Recalling the internal torment the little package had triggered, Rogue licked her lips nervously. For a brief moment she considered calling on the Professor, afraid that the voice would reemerge now that she held the gift in her hands once more.

With bated breath she waited for the voice to come again, but she was met with only silence as she stared at the white box. After a few minutes with no reaction, Rogue sighed in relief and afforded herself a little smile – after all, she really did want to know what it was!

Rogue sat up and crossed her legs beneath her as she pulled the easy open tab, thankful that she wouldn't have to go searching for something sharp to cut the tape. Once the box was open, she tipped it upside-down to let the contents fall onto her comforter.

A small, blue square box about three inches wide greeted her and Rogue quickly tossed the shipping box aside as she gently picked up the newest surprise. It was tied with a simple silver ribbon and bow and she was almost sad to ruin the beautiful packaging.

She reverently removed the ribbon and lifted the lid off the box, revealing a beautiful emerald necklace and earring set. Rogue had to suppress a gasp as she took in the deep, sparkling gemstones and ever so carefully lifted the necklace to examine it more closely.

The emerald stone was nearly the size of her fingernail and tear-drop shaped while a delicate line of silver made up the chain. There were no other adornments, but it was exquisite in its simplicity. The dangling earrings hung from a short, silver weave before ending in a smaller tear-drop emerald.

The Southerner bit her lip, torn between conflicting emotions of admiration and self-consciousness. The gift was nice – too nice, in fact. She was stunned by the beauty of the jewelry and likewise guilt-stricken over just how expensive it must have been. She could only hope that the emeralds were simple glass look-alikes and not genuine.

With a sigh, she began to place the necklace carefully back in its place before changing her mind. She afforded herself a little smile of guilty pleasure as she undid the clasp and placed the necklace around her throat.

Despite her haggard appearance and lack of makeup, Rogue turned toward the mirror to admire the necklace. Thankfully the dresser mirror was close enough that she was able to sit in bed and didn't have to get up to check it out.

It was stunning.

The color of the emerald brought out the green in her eyes and looked so elegant lying quietly against the apex of her chest. It sat a few inches below the dip of her throat, but not so far down as to be indecent. She could practically wear it as an everyday accessory if she wanted. It would go marvelously with that new outfit…

Placing the box with the earrings on her dresser, Rogue reclined in bed as she fingered the beautiful necklace. Soon she was lost in thought over the gifts, the sender and her own feelings. Before long, however, her breathing evened out and she fell asleep, her hand still on the necklace and a small smile on her face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


	8. Chapter 8 - Surprises

Thanks for everyone who reviewed! You are fabulous.

rats xp: *smacks forehead* - I NEVER thought of roses! That is so simple and easy to do, yet it never crossed my mind until you suggested it. Thanks so much for the idea!

XXX

Chapter 8 – Questions

XXXXXX

The next morning, Rogue awoke to someone knocking softly on her door. Her first reaction was to throw something toward the sound of the disturbance, but all she could muster was a soft groan as she pulled the pillow over her head.

Apparently the visitor was NOT a telepath, because they entered anyway.

"Guten Morgen!" Kurt exclaimed happily as he held a silver tray of food out in front of him. Trailing behind him was Kitty who, thankfully, was not carrying any food.

With a sigh, Rogue reluctantly sat up and managed a small smile. She hadn't spent much time with her friends since waking up from her 'coma', and she knew they were eager to talk to her.

She watched as Kurt placed the silver tray on the nightstand. She could see various plates of pancakes, toast, eggs, fruit, hash browns and an assortment of pork products.

"I uh," Kurt stammered nervously, "I vasn't sure vhat you vould like, so we made some of everyzhing…"

"We…?" Rogue asked, casting a dubious glance at Kitty.

The brunette rolled her eyes as she sat on the end of Rogue's bed. "Oh come ON! My cooking's not THAT bad. I only burned the first, like, four pieces of toast!"

Rogue stifled a chuckle.

Kurt sat down on the other side of Kitty and winked at his sister. "Don't worry, I didn't let her touch anything else. In fact, Storm and Jean did most of zhe cooking."

Rogue's stomach growled and she reached for the bowl of fruit, taking a quick bite as Kurt and Kitty continued to tease each other. "Mmm," Rogue murmured as she chewed on a tasty strawberry. "Remind meh t' thank 'em both. And thanks t' both of you, too. Looks delicious." She cast a dubious glance at all the food on the tray. "Just not sure ah can eat it all. Please tell meh ya'll are hungry too."

The two visitors shook their heads no.

"Drat," Rogue exclaimed as she snagged a piece of sausage from the tray. After quickly chewing and swallowing the juicy patty, she wiped her hands on the napkin they'd provided and smiled widely.

"And I'm guessin' ah should thank one of ya for savin' mah door, too. Ah half expected t' find it in pieces. Suppose that's what ah get for lockin' it."

Kurt and Kitty shared confused glances.

"But," Kurt started, "it vasn't locked. In fact, it vas open vhen ve arrived."

Rogue turned a suspicious eye to the door in question. "Ah swear ah locked it when ah got t' mah room that day. In fact, ah know ah did 'cause ah remember thinkin' it was kinda pointless."

"Vell," Kurt explained, "Scott, Jean and I vere the first to get to your door after we heard the explosion and it was already open a crack."

"What?!" Rogue exclaimed as she chocked on a bite of toast. "What explosion? Ah don't remember an explosion…"

Kitty looked at her friend, concerned. "Yeah, Tabby and I were downstairs with the Professor when we heard an explosion from upstairs. Professor Xavier told everyone it came from your room."

"Ja," Kurt agreed. "Vhen I ported just outside your door, there vas still smoke in the hall. We thought your powers were out of control again. I vas… I vas nervous to enter your room for a moment. I thought zhat you wouldn't be yourself."

Rogue stared hard at her dresser and the clock. "But that doesn't make any sense," she stated, gnawing on a slice of bacon. "Mah powers were never the problem. Just that voice in mah head." She chewed thoughtfully as she tried to remember the exact events of that day.

"Ah, ah remember headin' for the door, thinkin' ah had t' find the Professor, and ah started t' black out. Ah must've fallen against mah dresser, 'cause mah hand hit that clock."

Rogue stared at the German Cuckoo Clock in confusion. Last thing ah remember was knockin' it off the dresser. "

"But," Kitty chewed on her lip as she watched Rogue stab a piece of pancake. "If it HAD fallen, wouldn't we have found it on the ground?"

"It vas still on the dresser vhen we found you there," Kurt pointed to the spot near Rogue's dresser where they had found her lying unconscious.

The three teens were quiet for a moment-the only sound was that of Rogue pensively chewing her food.

"What ah don't get," the Southerner finally spoke as she swallowed another bite of pancake. "Is how ya'll found me in here, but ya say the smoke was in the hall. Ya said the door was only open a crack – how big of one?"

Using his thumb and finger, Kurt indicated less than an inch of space.

"So if the door was only open a tad, how did the smoke get in the hall and not in mah room? Ah couldn't have thrown anything through that small of a space, an' nothin's missin' from mah room that would explain what blew up."

Kitty stood and stuck her head into the hallway. As she returned, she stood at the door with her arms on her hips. "Nothing's missing in the hall either, just a little bit of black soot near the top of the ceiling. So something definitely blew up out there."

"But vhat?" Kurt asked. "And how did Rogue blow something up if the door was only open a little?"

"Are…" Rogue held a piece of toast in her hand, about to take another bite. "Are ya'll sure AH'M the one who caused the explosion? Is there any way it could have been another student and the timin' was just a coincidence?"

Kurt and Kitty thought on the matter for a moment as Rogue chewed her toast.

"Nein," Kurt finally responded with a shake of his head. "I was here within seconds of Xavier's call and no one else vas around. Scott and Jean came out of her room moments after zhat."

Rogue sighed, swallowing. "Guess it's time ah talked t' the Professor, huh?"

The three sat silently for a second before Rogue's stomach growled again.

"Well," the Southerner debated, "maybe right after ah finish eatin'."

It was at that moment, when Rogue bent to take another bite of pancake that Kitty finally noticed the emerald necklace still adorning Rogue's throat.

"Oh my gosh, that's new, isn't it? Is it from the secret admirer? Is that what was in the box?"

Rogue sighed. It was going to be a LONG day.

XXX

Rogue's talk with the Professor proved no more insightful than her conversation with Kurt and Kitty. She told the telepath about her revelations over the last few days – her conversation with Logan and the problem with the explosion, but she left with as many questions as before.

The Professor had remained oddly quiet throughout Rogue's story. The only thing he had really said was "Try to get some rest. I'm sure it will work itself out in time."

Rogue had left his office over an hour later feeling rather dejected. She didn't have much time to dwell on her problems, however, as the weekend was nearly over and she had to focus on preparing to go back to school the next day. Unfortunately, she had no homework, books or backpack she could use to prepare herself.

Thankfully, however, she did share a few classes with some of the other students in the mansion. She had math with Kitty, who gave Rogue all of her notes to study; she'd already read "_Midsummer Night's Dream_" for English, so she wasn't particularly behind for that one (aside from the report that was due in two days); and Jean was going to review some of the history unit she'd missed over the last week. The telepath had the same teacher last year and knew the syllabus by heart. She'd even kept her all her notes and reports and was perfectly happy to spend a little time reviewing them with Rogue.

Regardless of her friends' help, however, Rogue still felt uneasy about returning to school without any of her materials. She wasn't exactly sure how she'd managed to turn everything in without any school books…

Sleep did not come easy for the Southerner that night and the next morning she felt just as exhausted as if she hadn't slept at all in the last week.

Rogue knew she had to go school regardless of her state of wakefulness, and slowly prepared for the day.

"Any luck finding your backpack?" Kurt asked as he drove Rogue, Kitty, Bobby, Ray, Roberto, Sam and Jaime and himself to school in the X-Van.

"Nope, Ah'm just gonna have t' wing it ah guess." Rogue replied as she stared out of the front passenger window. With her powers, the issue of shotgun was null and void so she was able to relax a little within her personal space.

The rest of the boys were in the back seats with poor Kitty wedged in the middle row between Sam and Bobby. The brunette was still pouting – they'd voted 7 to 1 that she should NOT be in the driver's seat. She'd HAD the option of driving to school with the other girls, but she'd wanted to keep a sharp eye on the boys. After all, she figured ONE of them had to have Rogue's stuff…

A similar thought ran through Rogue's mind as she stared out the window and she took a quick peek in the vanity mirror, trying to guess who it could be. It didn't appear that any of the boys had brought an extra backpack with them (that would have been pretty obvious after all), but a few of their bags DID look a little heavier than normal…

One such boy was Bobby, who caught Rogue's gaze in the mirror and smiled broadly at her.

Embarrassed to be caught staring, Rogue quickly slammed the visor closed and slunk down in her seat a tad.

When they finally got to school, Rogue had fully intended to bail from the car immediately and book it into the school as fast as she could (whilst trying to LOOK like she wasn't still embarrassed, of course). Her plans failed, however, when Kitty snagged her arm as they came to a stop.

"Did you want to borrow my math book, Rogue? I know it's, like, your first period and mine's not til after lunch. You can just give it back to me then."

Rogue turned slightly to meet Kitty's gaze as she tried to avoid Bobby's, who was sitting just to Kitty's left.

"Uh, sure," she responded with a small smile. "Why don't we get to y'r locker first, though. Don't want to deal with the bags right now."

With her lunch in hand, Rogue turned to open her door - still hoping to flee with some dignity - when she was startled to find it opening on its own.

Withdrawing her hand in surprise, Rogue was flabbergasted to find Sam holding it open for her, a wide smile on his face. She must have looked like a deer in the headlights because the Southern boy chuckled as he stood to the side.

"A proper Southern gentleman always holds the door f'r a lady," he replied as Rogue finally overcame her shock and exited the vehicle.

Another blush dusted her cheeks as she ducked her head and sidestepped the boy. "Um, thanks," she muttered, forcing a small smile as she met his eyes for a brief second.

She could hear Kitty snickering from behind her and she turned to glare at her friend. "Get a move on, will you Kit!" she growled as she then turned and practically ran for the safety of the building.

Once inside the school, Rogue took a deep, calming breath as she waited for the brunette to catch up. She didn't have long to wait, however, as Kitty practically fell through the glass doors with barely contained laughter.

"And just what do you think is so funny?" Rogue snarled, her arms folded and brow raised. She was determined to play this off like it was no big deal, but she knew Kitty was going to have a hay-day with it, regardless.

"You should have seen your face!" Kitty squealed between peals of laughter. "Kinda like the time the Professor pelted Logan with a waterballoon."

"Oh shut up," Rogue growled again, and shoved her friend by the shoulder, inadvertently causing her to phase through someone's locker.

Rogue paid the girl no mind, however, and stormed toward her own locker. She wasn't very well going to carry her lunch and coat around all day, and she at least had an extra notebook or two in there.

By the time Kitty caught up to her friend, Rogue was already dialing in the combination. Her scowl quickly turned to surprise when she finally got it open, though.

There, resting neatly inside her locker was her missing backpack. Pinned to the front of the bag was a note.

Rogue yanked the small white paper from the bag before Kitty could get a chance to read it.

_Sorry to make you worry about your stuff (and for the cheating), but I figured you could use a little extra help with your homework this week and wanted you to relax. Hope the new tunes help out with that, too. _

As Rogue read the note, Kitty was furiously tearing through Rogue's bag and locker.

"It was here!? Are you freaking kidding me? I checked this locker every day last week and NOW it shows up?! How the heck did he get it in here so quick?" the brunette ranted. "We all got here at the same time!"

Rogue snickered at her friend's distress. The girl was more infuriated by the situation than she was. Sure she'd had to worry about her missing books and homework all weekend, but it HAD been kind of nice to just lay back and relax.

And speaking of relaxing, what was that about the new tunes…?

Rogue didn't have to wonder for long, however, as Kitty rummaged through Rogue's school bag and quickly shoved a small red box into her friend's stomach.

"Here," the normally peppy valley girl grumbled, "you got another stupid gift." Rogue rolled her eyes at her friend and watched as Kitty dropped the backpack on the floor and crossed her arms, impatiently waiting for Rogue to open the box.

Handing the note to Kitty, Rogue pulled off the green bow and simple red paper. The box was only a few inches long and not very wide. It was too small to be a CD (not that she had a player anymore) and at least an inch thick.

After pulling off the paper and tossing it inside her locker, Rogue opened a brown cardboard jewelry box to reveal a small, flat device nestled within tissue paper. There was also a pair of black ear buds inside.

Kitty strained her neck to see and quickly gasped. "Oh my gosh, that's an IPod Touch! Those are SO expensive!"

Rogue turned a concerned eye to her friend. "They are?"

"Yeah," Kitty nodded enthusiastically, forgetting about her irritation. "They're like $300!"

Rogue's eyebrows nearly met her hairline. "WHAT?!" She quickly closed the box and started to place it back in her locker. "No way ah can accept that. Ah'll just have to get him t' return it somehow."

Kitty chuckled. "Um, you can't. It's not in the original packaging anymore and it looks like he might have already downloaded some music." She took the box from Rogue and pulled out the device, turning it on before quickly thumbing through the screen.

"See," she pointed to a list of songs, "There's, like, over a hundred songs on here already." Kitty handed the device to Rogue, who began flicking through the songs. The titles were mostly those that she already had on CD (which were useless now), plus a few she didn't recognize.

Rogue sighed and carefully put the device inside the small cardboard box before placing it inside her backpack. As she did so, she also pulled out one of her homework assignments and looked over the piece of paper with a sigh.

The handwriting was somewhat similar to her own; it was simple and straight without any extra flourishes or embellishments. It was neat and legible too – definitely NOT something written by a boy. It was the same handwriting as was on the new note and, coincidently, the same handwriting that had adorned the first note from her "secret admirer."

"MANDY!" Rogue nearly hissed, half amused and half perturbed.

"Who?" Kitty asked, handing Rogue her backpack as the two girls made their way to Kitty's locker.

Rogue sighed, but explained the whole story (minus the part where Duncan had flirted with her) to her friend.

XXX

After school, Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt dropped the other students off at home before heading to the mall. Rogue wanted to talk to Mandy again and her friends insisted on going with her.

It was a long shot that Mandy would actually be working, but as it turned out luck was in their favor and they found the petite blonde happily helping a customer check out.

When Mandy saw Rogue, she waved enthusiastically. "Hey Rogue! I heard you were under the weather – glad to see you're feeling better." The girl smiled widely at Kitty and Kurt as she came out from behind the counter.

Without invitation, she reached out and took Kurt's hand, shaking it vigorously. "I'm Mandy!" she exclaimed, "Nice to… meet… you." Mandy trailed off with a curious glance at their interlocked hands.

Kurt quickly pulled his hand from her grip and hid them both behind his back as he stared at the ground.

"You have, like, a great grip and SUCH soft hands. Love it!" Mandy declared with a wink.

Kurt met the girl's eyes and smiled slightly. "I'm – I'm Kurt, and danke."

Next Mandy held her hand out to Kitty and actually waited for the brunette to take her hand. Kitty quickly extended her own and introduced herself. "Kitty. Hi! Nice to meet you."

"Good to meet you, Kitty," Mandy smiled before turning back to Rogue. "So, Rogue, did you like the flowers? I picked them out!"*******

Rogue sighed and smiled. The girl's enthusiasm was almost contagious. "Ah did, thanks. And ah also came t' thank ya for your help with mah school work. Ah can't imagine that boy'd ask you t' do it for me. Ah'm a little embarrassed that ya went t' all that trouble."

Mandy simply smiled. "Oh it was nothing. He did most of it – typing reports and stuff. I just filled in the worksheets. Math isn't my best subject, but he just told me what to write. Didn't take long at all."

Rogue smiled gratefully, and then pulled out the new I-Pod to show Mandy. "So ah'm guessin' ya probably had somethin' t' do with this, too?" The Southerner handed the device to the blonde, who oohed and aahed over it for a moment.

"Sad to say I did not. I just wrote the note – I'd wondered what he meant by 'the tunes.' What kind of songs did he put on there anyhow, anything you actually like?" Mandy was itching to flip through the playlists, but reluctantly handed the music player back to Rogue.

"Actually, there's a lot of mah old music on there already. He must've gone through mah CD's or somethin', which is a bit unsettling see how they're in mah dresser with some of mah clothes." Rogue mused aloud as she pocketed the device once more.

Kitty had been quiet for far too long and the suspense was killing her. "Mandy PLEASE tell us who it is!? Please, please, please?!" The brunette begged, all but groveling on her knees.

Mandy giggled, but shook her head. "Sorry Kitty, no can do. I made a promise, and I'm very good at keeping promises."

Kitty huffed, but shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "No big, I can figure it out," the brunette stated.

"After all, he knew Rogue was in a … under the weather, and had the foresight to collect AND deliver her homework. And he also had access to Rogue's CD collection, so it HAS to be someone at the mansion. Plus, he's got to be pretty smart and efficient to do all her homework… unless," Kitty's face scrunched up in doubt, "it's someone like Warren or Pete that doesn't LIVE there, but DID visit while she was … under the weather; but that doesn't explain how he got the flowers inside without anyone knowing it or how he got the backpack and…" Kitty threw her hands up in the air.

"ARGH! JUST TELL ME!" The brunette grabbed Mandy's hands and shook them vigorously, as if it would jostle the answer out of her. Rogue nearly laughed at her friend's irritation, but managed to hide it behind her gloved hand.

Mandy simply laughed. "Nope, sorry. I will tell him to lay off the stalking though. It sounds like he's getting a bit too … involved in things. Especially if he's traipsing through your room to find a CD collection; I mean, I know he's just trying to impress you Rogue, but there's a limit, you know?"

"Thank you!" Rogue cried happily as she flourished a hand toward the blonde. "Finally someone who sees it mah way! I think ah'm beginnin' t' like you."

"Of course you do," Mandy agreed with a wink toward Kurt, who was obviously uncomfortable with the entire situation. "No one can resist my innocent charm."

Rogue snorted. "Tell me again how ya'll are innocent in the invasion of mah privacy?"

"Oh it's romantic and you know it!" Mandy nudged Kitty with her elbow. "TELL me you don't think it's romantic?"

"Oh my gosh, it so totally is!" Kitty squealed as Rogue rolled her eyes and Kurt pretended to gag.

"Dude, that's my sister," he protested in disgust.

Mandy looked from Rogue to Kurt and back again. "I'm sorry, but I REALLY don't see it…"

"Adopted sister," Rogue clarified simply.

"Ah, that explains it," Mandy nodded before skipping right along to the next topic. Thankfully for her the store was absolutely dead on Monday afternoons and there wasn't a customer in sight still.

"So, what are you guys all doing for holiday break?" she asked, happily changing the subject – much to Kurt's relief. "Isn't it coming up soon?"

"Ja," Kurt nodded, "Two weeks. I zhought EVERYONE kept a countdown!"

Mandy smiled again at the trio. "Oh I'm homeschooled, so it really doesn't affect me. I get to work here on whatever hours I want and as long as I'm meeting certain objectives and state curriculum standards. I can pretty much study whenever I want. I plan on working here most every day except for Christmas and New Years," she explained. "How about you guys? Going to see family?"

"I'm heading to Illinois to celebrate Hanukkah with my folks," Kitty replied quickly.

Mandy looked confused as she addressed the brunette, "Isn't Hanukkah almost over though? I thought it started on the 8th?"

Kitty seemed impressed by the other girls' knowledge and smiled warmly. "Yeah, it ends on the 16th, so I won't really get to see them until after, but we just do everything all over again together."

"Cool," Mandy nodded and turned to Kurt and Rogue. "What about you two? Any family plans?"

Both Rogue and Kurt looked slightly uncomfortable, but Rogue spoke up first. "Actually, I'm gonna be hangin' around the mansion with the adults while Kurt heads to Germany t' see his parents."

Mandy looked confused again, but didn't want to pry.

"So… Huh?" the blonde quirked an eyebrow. "I'm betting there's a story there – probably the ice cream and chocolate kind…"

"Oh, you're not wrong," Kitty quickly interrupted before Rogue could reply. "But she's like, the emotional Berlin Wall; there's no chance of getting through THAT."

Mandy gave Rogue a mischievous smirk. "Oh, I have my ways." Her expression quickly changed from calculating to excited, however, as she jumped up and grabbed Rogue's hands. "Hey! Maybe we could hang out some when everyone else is gone! I've never been in a mansion before. And it would be so fun to get ready for the New Year's party together!"

This time Rogue looked puzzled. "Uh, New Year's party? I'm not sure ah follow." Kitty and Kurt also raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Oh there's this HUGE masquerade dance party every year at a club downtown. It's so much fun!"

Rogue shook her head, half amused and half irritated at the girl's audacity. Mandy had simply assumed Rogue would join her at this party despite the fact that she'd never even asked…

"I'm uh, ah'm not one for crowds … or New Year's… or parties for that matter," was all Rogue could say as way of declining the invite.

"Oh," Mandy smiled secretively at Rogue and winked. "I don't think you'll want to miss this one. After all, you never know who you could meet!"

Kitty practically squealed with delight. "OMG is he going to be there, the secret admirer? For real?!"

Mandy simply shrugged her shoulders and shook her head negatively. "Don't know yet, but I DID suggest it. It's a costume party after all. You could dance with a hundred guys and never know if any of them are him or not."

Rogue groaned as Kitty clapped gleefully. "You know," the Southerner stated with some annoyance in her voice, "this is gettin' old real fast. Why don't you just TELL me who it is, and ah'll simply ACT surprised when he finally goes for the big reveal?"

When Mandy crossed her arms and shook her head, Rogue narrowed her eyes placing both hands on her hips. "Fine. If you ain't gonna spill the beans, ah'll just have t' borrow some telepathy and come back later." With an uncharacteristically cheerful wave, Rogue smiled at the blonde and turned to leave. "See ya'll soon," she called over her shoulder as she exited the store.

Kitty and Kurt simply exchanged nervous glances as they looked toward Rogue, then at Mandy, and finally back at Rogue.

"Uh, she's just kidding," Kitty stated nervously. "It was nice meeting you, bye!" With that, the brunette grabbed Kurt's hand and followed after their friend.

When they were out of Mandy's earshot, Kurt asked, "Do you really think Rogue was joking?"

"Do you?" Kitty questioned back.

With a knowing glance, they sprinted to catch up with their friend. "ROGUE!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X

***Every year my mom would pick out and buy presents for everyone and my dad would joyfully exclaim, "I picked it out… what is it!?" Just a little inside joke that made me laugh.


End file.
